


Being Quiet/Being Seen

by queenofquiet17



Category: Will & Grace
Genre: Canon Bisexual Character, Established Relationship, F/F, Grace and Karen just need some alone time, Lesbian Sex, Secret Relationship, Summer Vacation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2019-08-13
Packaged: 2020-07-19 02:35:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19966618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenofquiet17/pseuds/queenofquiet17
Summary: “Will, I’m tired,” Grace groaned. “I just want to go to bed.”He furrowed his brow, obviously unsatisfied with his best friend’s answer. “What’s with you? You’ve barely said anything the whole day, and when you finally do, it’s to turn in for the night? Come on, we’re on vacation, this is supposed to be fun! What gives?”Shit. This was the last thing she needed, trying to scramble for an answer that he thinks should be easy to give. She could say it was a long day all she wanted to--and it was a long day, with the late start and the drive and the genius idea to stop for a leisurely dinner along the way--but she knew that while her words were saying one thing, her face would very much say, “My sex vacation with Karen is ruined, and it’s all your fault.” But he was waiting for a response. And she knew he wouldn’t budge on this. So she took a breath.Grace and Karen thought they planned the perfect getaway, away from the prying eyes of Will and Jack, finally able to be with each other without having to look over their shoulders. But when the guys end up inviting themselves along for the trip, all they want is a moment alone together.





	1. Day 1: Up the Stairs

**Author's Note:**

> I've had the vaguest idea for this in my head for months, and I honestly can't believe it took me this long to finally flesh it out. But I'm glad I did, and I'm so glad my [Bookworm](https://archiveofourown.org/users/disgruntledkittenface) let me drag her along for the ride (thank you so much for your flails and encouragement, I love you).
> 
> This fic is inspired by the song ["Home"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TfYWL7W-1U) by Melissa Ferrick. Lyrics will open most of the chapters.

_Day 1_

She could kill Karen for going along with this.

It was supposed to be their own summer getaway, just the two of them: Karen’s house in the Hamptons, pools and beaches and privacy, not worrying about who was going to walk in on them when they finally got a moment alone. Grace would make up some bogus design expo she just had to go to. Karen would tell the boys about having to make an appearance at the Bronfmans’ Fourth of July party, and since she got the beach house in the divorce, she might as well get some use out of it by going up a couple days early (it wasn’t entirely a lie, either...the Bronfmans _were_ having a Fourth of July party, and the party _was_ in the Hamptons. But the Bronfmans were Stan’s friends, and since he was no longer anywhere near the picture, she was no longer anywhere near obligated to pretend to give a shit about them. They didn’t need to know that, though). They would both be in the clear. And they would run off into the sunset together, finally free. It was a perfect plan. Until Karen tried to pull off her end of the deal, and Jack started pouting about how it wasn’t fair that he had to be stuck in the city and she got to go away. And he tried to invite himself along. And when he succeeded, he turned it into a trip for the four of them to take together once he convinced Will that he could use a vacation and told Grace that she could come along too, like it was an afterthought. And suddenly their little romantic rendezvous turned into a family trip Grace never signed up for.

Goddammit. She should have gone first.

She should have been the one to break the news of her departure before Karen made Jack’s eyes light up with the slightest mention of the Hamptons. She could have made up some excuse about needing Karen to come along with her to the nonexistent design expo. And she probably would have gotten away with it, too. After all, Karen _did_ kind of swoop in to save the day at that showcase back in ‘99, like some sort of interior design whisperer. And she knew there were countless other times when Karen set her straight, calmed her down, made her stop freaking out so much. There were countless other times when her improbable assistant proved everyone wrong. Who’s to say Grace wouldn’t self destruct again without that improbable assistant there to stop the damage? She needed Karen to be with her. At least that last part wouldn’t have been a lie.

Grace never expected this to be anything more than casual. She never expected this to last the few months and counting that it had. She never expected this at all. But at some point, the kisses that peppered their friendship started tasting different. At some point, Karen started kissing with intent. At some point, Grace led Karen’s hand to the hem of her skirt, and at some point, Karen let her touch slip underneath it. At some point, Grace figured out how to make Karen moan for her, how to give her what she wanted. At some point, they decided they wanted this all the time, started looking for moments to steal away and corners of the office to hide in, learned how to redress themselves quickly when they heard footsteps and how to hide the way they were trying to catch their breath when Will or Jack inevitably crashed the party (and what the hell would they say if those two ever found out? That they occasionally use their lunch breaks to go down on each other before the next client arrives?). At some point, Grace realized she wanted to spend every moment she possibly could with Karen, craving the small moments when Karen would take off the mask and let her truth come out as much as she craved the sparks the dark haired woman’s lips left every time they traveled down her body.

At some point, Grace fell in love. But she wasn’t going to tell Karen that. Not yet. Not when she couldn’t gauge the woman’s true feelings, and they were still new enough to have something like that ruin the vibe. Her plan was to see how their vacation went first, to see how they handled time alone together that didn’t involve one of their hands sliding up the other’s blouse or under the other’s panties. And then she would let it slip somewhere in the quiet of the night, or in the sunlight of a new day, or maybe in the afterglow, when their breathing started to even out and she could lull herself into peace with the sound of Karen’s heartbeat as she rested her head on her girl’s chest. And even if she chickened out, at least the dynamic would stay the same. At least they would still have a few days to play.

They _should_ have a few days to play. That was what was supposed to happen. That was what Grace was counting on. Instead, she found herself slumped in an armchair in Karen’s impossibly massive beach house, clutching a glass of Pinot Grigio and silently staring daggers at Will and Jack from across the coffee table as they gawked at the (admittedly fabulous) view of the sunset from the picture window in the living room. She could feel Karen’s eyes on her as the dark haired woman sat perched on the arm rest of the sofa across from her, and when she shifted her gaze, she saw the amused look in them. “You’re _so_ mad,” Karen mouthed silently, caught up in what looked like one of her breathless laughs. Grace’s eyes grew wide in surprise, her lips parting slightly like she was going to say something before Karen raised a finger to her lips as a preemptive hush. Because of course she was mad. Why wouldn’t she be mad? Why wasn’t _Karen_ mad? How could she think this was funny?

Didn’t she _want_ that alone time with Grace?

“Come on…” Grace eventually mouthed back, looking for a little sympathy, a little sign that maybe, just maybe, Karen was feeling the same kind of let down she was. She watched as Karen pursed her lips in thought before nodding to the staircase like she wanted Grace to excuse herself. It was a good plan; they clearly needed to talk. But Grace couldn’t seem to shake the feelings she had over Karen not letting their change of plans phase her. Maybe she really didn’t care that their vacation was over before it ever truly had a chance to start. Maybe she didn’t care that they were losing all of that time with no guarantee of getting it back.

Or maybe she was just the one who was better at hiding that she cared. After all, you don’t spend all those years trying to convince everyone you don’t do emotions without learning how to prove it.

Regardless, Karen was giving her a way out, at least for the evening. And Grace knew couldn’t stew in her frustration for much longer.

“I think I’m going to call it a night,” she announced, getting up from her seat, setting her wine glass down on the coffee table, “before Jack suggests strip poker again.” She would never forget that trip they all took to the Walkers’ Vermont cabin to distract Will from what would have been his anniversary with Michael, walking in on Jack and Karen wearing significantly fewer clothes than they were when she left and acting like it was nothing (although even back then, she didn’t mind seeing Karen in that state, if she was being completely honest). And she would never forget that no matter how little sense it made to her, walking in on their game was in no way surprising.

But she wasn’t even close to being as drunk as she needed to be to agree to something like that.

The boys jolted back into reality and turned their attention to her. “Eww,” Jack complained. “Get real, Grace! I don’t wanna see your lady parts!”

She didn’t even have time to be offended before Will chimed in to protest. “Sweetie, it’s still early! Stick around for a little bit. Let’s open up another bottle of wine.”

“Will, I’m tired,” Grace groaned. “I just want to go to bed.”

He furrowed his brow, obviously unsatisfied with his best friend’s answer. “What’s with you? You’ve barely said anything the whole day, and when you finally do, it’s to turn in for the night? Come on, we’re on vacation, this is supposed to be fun! What gives?”

_Shit._ This was the last thing she needed, trying to scramble for an answer that he thinks should be easy to give. She could say it was a long day all she wanted to--and it _was_ a long day, with the late start and the drive and the genius idea to stop for a leisurely dinner along the way--but she knew that while her words were saying one thing, her face would very much say, “My sex vacation with Karen is ruined, and it’s all your fault.” But he was waiting for a response. And she knew he wouldn’t budge on this. So she took a breath.

“Alright, alright, leave her be,” Karen interrupted, before Grace could expose everything with some terrible lie about what’s been souring her mood. Grace tried to minimize the sigh of relief she couldn’t contain as Karen took the reins. “If she’s tired, she’s tired. You kids get some more wine while I show Princess Party Pooper over here to her room, okay?” She put her hands on Grace’s shoulders and steered her to the staircase. “Pour me another one while I’m gone,” she called out over her shoulder as they made their exit.

When they got to the top of the stairs, Grace felt the way Karen’s touch traveled down her spine and landed at the small of her back to guide her down the hallway, felt the way she started to melt into it, and tried like hell to keep her mind focused on the grudges she had been carrying all day. She was angry; she should be thinking about explaining to Karen why she was angry. She should _not_ be thinking about how easy it would be to close the door to the bedroom she was just led into, pull Karen down with her as she fell onto the bed, and hope to god neither one of them would be loud enough to catch the boys’ attention. Her features twisted as she tried to hold onto her frustration, making the dark haired woman break out into a small laugh when she got a good look at her girl.

“Okay now...what’s with the sour puss?” Karen smiled as she leaned in and drew her finger along the redhead’s cheek. That smirk, the sparks her touch left in its wake. The way she made you feel like you could let any disappointment just roll off your back the way she seemed to let them. Good _god,_ it made it so much harder to stay angry when she pulled this kind of thing. She knew it, too. She had to. She had always been able to look at Grace and know exactly how to make the storm clouds in her mind move out to let a little sun in. It was one of the things that drew Grace to her in the first place.

But Grace wasn’t about to just let this go.

“Karen, this was supposed to be _our_ time. You, me, no one else. So excuse me if I’m a little upset that instead, I fought with Jack for shotgun on the drive over here. _And_ lost.” She didn’t understand why Karen insisted on being the one who drove them to the beach house. All she needed to do was give Will the address to punch into the GPS, let him take the wheel of the rental car, and they could have been in the back seat stealing a few private moments with each other; it wasn’t like the boys would have been able to see anything below the neck from the front seats. “Aren’t _you_ upset right now?”

“Well, of course I am! Jack knows damn well I can’t say no to those sad little puppy eyes he makes when he feels left out. But it’s not like we can change it now.” Karen took Grace’s hands in hers and wrapped them around her waist. “Come on, Grace,” she murmured with a hint of a pout. “Don’t be mad at me.”

Grace sighed. “I’m not mad at _you,_ I just...I wanted to finally have a few days with you where we wouldn’t have to look over our shoulders all the time.”

“Honey,” she drew out in the way that always decimated Grace, her voice the most incredible, impossible mix of pleading and teasing the redhead had ever heard. “Trust me, will ya? I know it’s an adjustment. But we’ll still get to do all the things we wanted to. I promise.”

“With those two around?” she asked incredulously. “How?”

“Gracie, have you _seen_ the size of this place? It’ll be fine. Why do you think I’m making them sleep on the other side of the house?” Karen pulled the redhead in closer, her lips within an inch of Grace’s skin. “Why do you think I put you in the bedroom next to mine?” she said, nearly a whisper, before she pressed her lips to the spot under Grace’s ear that she knew made her girl buckle.

And Grace buckled, right along with the walls of vexation she had been trying in vain to keep upright and high.

The second Karen pulled her lips away from the redhead’s skin, Grace caught them fiercely with her own, wrapping her arms tighter around the dark haired woman’s waist and coaxing a low moan out of her. She sighed as Karen cupped her face in her hands to deepen the kiss, their tongues colliding as they stumbled closer and closer to the bed. And when she felt the backs of her knees crash against the mattress, she knew all it would take was the slightest tug to get Karen on top of her. She knew that she could slide her hands underneath Karen’s shirt, let her fingers dance up her spine until they hit the lace of her bra, and...

“Honey…” Karen breathlessly managed in between kisses, like she could read her mind, “I...I can stay...if you want me to…”

_God,_ Grace wanted her to. Isn’t this what she was hoping for? Isn’t this how she was planning to spend her summer vacation? She felt the way Karen’s touch traveled down to her shoulders, pushing the straps of her tank top to the side so her lips could explore her collarbone properly. But it wasn’t until Karen started to draw her tongue across Grace’s skin that the redhead’s legs finally gave out from under her and forced her to sit on the bed. She studied Karen’s smirk and could feel herself fall deeper and deeper under its spell. But before she could let herself give in entirely, she knew she had to state the obvious. Even though she knew it was going to kill the mood.

“They’re gonna get suspicious if you’re up here for much longer,” Grace whispered.

Karen’s smirk faltered as she took a deep breath, letting it out in a defeated sigh. “Ugh, devil,” she groaned, pulling Grace into her arms, letting her girl rest her head against her chest. “I hate that you’re right. I guess I should go back down there.”

“Will you come back when they’ve gone to bed?”

The dark haired woman lowered her head to brush her lips gently against the redhead’s. “Like you even have to ask, honey,” she murmured. Slowly (reluctantly? Grace could swear it was reluctance), she backed away from the bed and made her way towards the door. But just as she was about to leave, she stopped in the doorway. “By the way,” she purred, looking back at the redhead with a diabolical fire in her eyes, “Jack may not want to see you strip...but _I’m_ counting on it.”

And with that, she was gone.

And with that, Grace knew it would be impossible to rest with the thoughts Karen just ignited burning in her mind.

She changed into pajamas and climbed into bed, trying to calm her mind and her body down, knowing how excruciating it was already going to be to wait for her girl to come back to her. Good god. If this was any indication of how the trip was going to go, the next few days were going to be the worst kind of torture, filled with stolen glances and desperately seeking out exit plans, fleeting privacy and interrupted intimacy, heated touches and cold reality. It made her want to take Karen and the rental car and drive until they were out of gas. It made her want to just go downstairs and straddle Karen in her seat, do away with the secret once and for all if it meant that they could actually do what they came here to do.

It made her wish Karen would hurry up and call it a night already.

As the night went on, Grace could feel her eyes getting heavier, tried to suppress the yawns that surely signaled nothing good. She wanted to stay awake for Karen. She had to, if she wanted to pick up where they left off. If she wanted a moment with her where they could drop all pretenses and simply be together. Honestly, at this point, she didn’t even need Karen to fuck her (although she _certainly_ wouldn’t say no to that); she just missed the way she seemed to fit perfectly inside the dark haired woman’s arms, how it felt warm and safe whenever Karen enveloped her like that. She wanted to burrow into them, wanted to feel surrounded by Karen’s touch. But she was finding it harder and harder to keep herself awake, nodding off for a few moments before her body shocked itself back to reality, repeating the cycle until she realized it was no use to fight it. Will and Jack would keep Karen down there all night, knowing her luck; she might as well just accept it. She wouldn’t see her girl again until morning. And who knew if Karen would even think it would be worth it to sneak into her room at this point? Just close your eyes, Grace. Get some rest. Try again tomorrow.

But the last thing she remembered being conscious for before finally letting herself fall asleep was the sound of the door creaking open and the smell of gardenia enveloping her as the mattress gave and Karen slid under the covers to wrap her body around Grace’s. The last thing she remembered wishing was that Karen would whisper something, anything, into her ear and spark her back up again, even though she knew Karen assumed she was already asleep and she was too tired to speak up about it. The last thing she remembered feeling was peace.

So. Maybe this trip was a bust.

But maybe, just maybe, if they could sleep together like this every night--if she could feel warmth and peace and safety in Karen’s arms like this every night--it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

And maybe, just maybe, if they were lucky enough, if they could find a way to get Will and Jack out of the house and out of their hair for a couple of hours, it would be even better.

Maybe that was asking for a little too much. But a girl can dream.


	2. Day 2: Down the Spine of a Sand Dune

_**“Down the spine of a sand dune** _   
_**Onto a crushed sea shell road** _   
_**We walked barefoot and hungry to your car** _   
_**The sun took all the salt from our bodies** _   
_**And the air pulled out our words** _   
_**There’s nothing like being quiet with the one you love”** _

_ Day 2 _

“Gracie…”

She woke up to her singsonged name and Karen’s lips traveling down her neck to her back, kissing her into consciousness. She couldn’t process it at first, started groaning over the fact that she was being pulled out of her slumber before she realized just who was pulling her, and slid seamlessly into a soft moan as she wriggled her body closer to Karen. Slowly, Grace’s eyes fluttered open to see the way the sunlight poured into the room, adjusting to the brightness as she took a breath. “What time is it?” she asked, her voice still heavy with sleep.

She missed Karen’s lips on her skin the second they left her. “It’s 7:30, honey,” Karen murmured softly before bringing her kiss back to Grace’s neck.

She wanted to stay here like this. She wanted to keep everything about this moment and never let go. The sleepy, leisurely morning. The sea salt breeze coming in through the open window. The quiet surrounding them only being broken by the way Karen would sigh every once in a while, as her kiss traced winding paths along her skin. It was so perfect, she was nearly convinced she was still dreaming. But at the risk of making Karen stop completely, Grace couldn’t help herself. “If you’re able to get up this early,” she quipped, “how come I never see you in the office before eleven?”

She could feel Karen smile against her skin before coming to within an inch of her ear. “Well god, if you’re going to be like that,” the dark haired woman teased, “maybe I  _ won’t _ be whisking you away after all.”

Whisking her away? As in being miles and miles from the boys’ prying eyes?

Grace perked up immediately and turned her body so that she could face Karen. “How far away are we talking here?” she asked.

She reveled in the way Karen’s low giggle tickled her ear and felt herself dissolve into the secret. “Get dressed and I’ll show you.” Grace groaned again the second Karen left the bed, reaching out to pull her girlfriend back in. But Karen wouldn’t give, moved herself just out of Grace’s reach with a smile that was way too playful for this hour of the day. “Quickly,” she continued. “We can still get out of here before they wake up.” And with that, Karen slipped soundlessly out the door.

By the time Grace had thrown on the first thing she could find, raced through her makeup and made it downstairs without so much as a creak in the floorboards to wake up Will and Jack, Karen was already leaning against the island in the kitchen like she had been waiting for hours. But good  _ god, _ she looked stunning doing it. Grace stopped in her tracks for a moment, taking in the way the blue of Karen’s dress looked like the clearest ocean, the way that ocean looked against the woman’s porcelain skin, the way it hugged her curves so perfectly. She let her eyes travel down Karen’s body until they reached the waves of her skirt. And Grace wanted so badly to dive in. Because honestly, did they really need to go anywhere? It was still early; the boys showed no signs of waking up any time soon. If they made any noise (look at her, thinking “If” like there was ever a time Karen didn’t make her cry out with all that she had when she came, like she didn’t know how to get Karen to scream with just a flick of her tongue), they would have time before they came downstairs to straighten themselves out and steady their voices long enough to tell them they were hearing things. It would be so easy to throw Karen down on that island, straddle her and...

The dark haired woman caught her staring and made an exaggerated show of huffing out an impatient sigh with a hint of a smile as she pulled Grace out of her mind, making the redhead rush through the last few steps to press her kiss to Karen’s lips. “Oh, come on!” Grace exclaimed a little too loudly, only realizing it as Karen shushed her in the middle of her breathless laugh. “This was the fastest I’ve ever gotten ready in my life.”

Karen held her girl out in front of her for a moment as she studied the shorts and t-shirt that suddenly made Grace feel severely underdressed for whatever was in store. “Honey, this should  _ not _ have taken you that long to put together,” she murmured in that lighthearted way that always seemed to do things to Grace, even when it carried those little critiques that were forever embedded in their connection. She brushed her a lock of Grace’s hair behind her ear. “You’re lucky you’re worth the wait,” she smirked before grabbing the car keys and one of the steel water bottles Grace had packed from their resting place on the island. “Now, let’s get the hell out of here.” And they tiptoed out the door to the rental car and made their getaway.

They didn’t speak for a long stretch of the drive; Grace was too occupied with trying to figure out where Karen was taking her, and Karen was too occupied with finding a decent radio station and humming along to the music when she finally found one. As Karen drove further and further east towards Montauk, Grace turned in her seat to take in the sight of her girl at peace. Karen talked a good game; that was part of what made her so intriguing in the first place, knowing that she was able to charm anyone who crossed her path, from the Sultan of Boran to the scrappy interior designer currently in her passenger seat. But she wondered how many of the people who came before her actually got to see this side of Karen Walker. She wondered how many of them actually got these quiet moments when all you had to do was look at her and know this was always where you were supposed to be, where you were always  _ going _ to be. She wondered how many of them were actually safe enough for Karen to feel like she didn’t have to be so  _ on _ all the time.

She wondered how many of them felt the way she felt right now, overwhelmingly proud to know that Karen found safety when she found her.

At a red light far from the beach house, Karen turned to meet Grace’s gaze and offered up an uncertain smirk and a furrowed brow. “What’s with the face?” she asked.

Grace shook her head, holding back the laugh in her throat at how furious she was when Karen asked her the same question last night, at how quickly everything can change. “Nothing,” she murmured over the music as she rested her head against the seat. “I just like seeing you content like this.”

The way Karen softened was incredible. “Well yeah, honey. We’re not worrying about Will and Jack’s next move. Of course I’m content.”

The light turned green as Grace took a breath and shifted her focus to the road ahead, her eyes following the path Karen was taking. “You know...it would be so easy to just turn around and drive somewhere far, far away from them. Just keep going until we run out of gas.” She heard Karen laugh beside her and felt her heart swell before she turned back to her girl and softly started running her fingers through Karen’s hair, careful not to break her concentration on the road. “Don’t lie, Kare,” she drew out in her lowest register. “You were thinking it, too.”

The dark haired woman let out a soft “Mmm…” and Grace couldn’t tell if it was from the thought of a true getaway or from the way she was letting her fingers weave through Karen’s hair. She liked thinking it was a little bit of both. “There’s something sweet about leaving Will in the dust when he was the one who taught me to drive in the first place,” Karen mused. “But I think  _ someone’s _ conscience would get in the way sooner or later.”

Grace slid her fingers out of Karen’s hair and sat upright. “Since when do  _ you _ admit to having a conscience?” she asked.

“Oh come on, Gracie, not mine!” she scoffed, causing Grace’s laugh to fill the car. “Please. I love them, but I’ll drop those two and never look back if it means we don’t have to be so aware of them all the time. But I know you, honey. We’ll be halfway out of the city when you start to feel guilty and realize you have to live with Wilma and whatever grudge he’s going to hold against you for abandoning him in the Hamptons.”

The redhead opened her mouth to argue, only to find that Karen knew her exactly as well as she wanted her to. She saw the smugly delighted look on her girl’s face and couldn’t help marveling at how beautiful she was when her features twisted like that. “Fine,” she sighed in mock defeat. And then, after a beat, “The grudge would be worth it, though.”

Karen let out a soft laugh as she slowed the car down to a stop and parked. “Well, let’s keep that in mind for next time,” she said before she nodded at the view from the windshield. “We’re here now.”

The redhead took in the quiet, nearly empty expanse of sand and ocean ahead of them. “Where exactly  _ is _ here?” she asked.

“Gin Beach,” Karen chirped like it was common knowledge. She got out of the car, grabbed the water bottle, and waited for her girl to follow suit.

_ God,  _ Grace thought to herself, shaking her head as she got out of the car.  _ Of course she picked the boozy beach. _

As soon as Karen took her hand and started to lead her out to the sand, though, she immediately understood why this was the perfect place. Aside from the one couple walking their Golden Retriever along the shoreline, they were completely alone in this moment. The waters were calm, the sea breeze was gentle. Once they ditched their shoes by a patch of beach grass, the sand felt warm and inviting in between Grace’s toes. And Grace was certain the universe was making up for the circumstances they found themselves in by letting everything around them now fall perfectly into place.

“Karen, this is amazing,” she murmured when they hit the shoreline.

“Isn’t it?” Karen opened up the water bottle and took a sip of whatever was inside (Grace knew better than to assume there was actually water in there). “Vacationing in places like these, you always seem to be around the same exhausting people day in and day out. Years ago, I just had a day when I couldn’t stand being around them anymore, and I took off, ended up here. And once I realized how peaceful it is, I started coming here whenever I needed space.” She handed the water bottle off to her girlfriend. “It just seemed like we could do with a little space this morning.”

“I am very pro-space at the moment,” Grace smiled, bringing the water bottle to her lips. The smell of the orange juice hit her nose a second before she tasted the small batch of mimosa Karen must have made while waiting for Grace to get dressed. The dark haired woman could see the surprise on Grace’s face and let out a satisfied giggle before settling into seriousness.

“Look, honey…” she started. “I know how upset you are about the way this vacation is turning out, and I just wanted to make it up to you. Because I know it’s my fault that Will and Jack are here. And it’s my fault that we’re gonna have to crash the Bronfmans’ party to keep up the ruse.” She held up her hand the second she saw Grace start to open her mouth in protest, continuing before the redhead could say a word. “And it’s my fault that we’re about to spend the Fourth of July with all of the bitter, snarky people I thought I’d never have to see again. This wasn’t what either of us thought it would be. So I just...I wanted to do a little something for you so that this trip isn’t a complete bust.”

Karen sounded so overwhelmingly sincere in that moment. And Grace was stunned at how much she put into this outing, how much she cared. She was stunned at how much love spilled from her own heart right now, how all of that love had Karen’s name written all over it. This would be the perfect time to say it, this quiet moment on the beach that truly belonged to them, no one else. It was just the opportunity she was looking for, one she may not get again on this trip, one where it could be so easy to just spit it out already. Quick. Simple. Three little words that Grace felt with everything she had. Three little words she swore Karen felt too. Just open your mouth, Grace. Speak up. Tell her you love her while you’re still alone with her, while the walls are still down and the mask is still off.

She studied Karen a second longer, and she took a breath.

“I can’t believe you took me to Gin Beach, and you didn’t even bring gin,” she teased a little too enthusiastically, hoping her girl wouldn’t notice the way she deflated as she chickened out.

“Yeah, honey... _ that _ wouldn’t have been on the nose at all,” Karen smirked, sarcasm dripping from her words. “Come on,” she nudged Grace playfully, “give me some credit. I’m a little more creative than that.” She swiped the bottle from Grace’s grasp and took a swig, her eyes brightening as she took in the way the redhead’s jaw dropped.

“Hey!” Grace exclaimed, grabbing for the bottle as Karen held it just out of her reach. She cracked a small smile in spite of herself. “I wasn’t done with that.”

“With what?” Karen asked with that devilish grin on her face that always let Grace know she was in for it. She held the bottle out, feigning epiphany as she let out a small gasp. “Oh, you mean this!” she teased, letting it dangle in her grasp for a moment. “Well, Gracie...what’s it worth to ya?”

If this was the game she wanted to play, Grace would absolutely start to play. She moved in closer as Karen slipped away, lunged for the bottle a few times while the dark haired woman pulled it further away, heard her laughter pile on Karen’s until they started to drown out the sounds of the ocean. She gave in to the back and forth a little while longer, until she finally reached for what truly mattered; in one fell swoop, she wrapped her arms around Karen’s waist and pulled her in close, making Karen drop the bottle to the sand when she plunged her lips into her girlfriend’s. The way Karen wrapped her arms around her neck like she was holding onto a life preserver drove her crazy, made her feel needed by the one woman who swore she never needed anything. “Not nearly as much as this is,” she purred as she reluctantly broke the kiss, the taste of Karen’s lips and the mimosa going to her head in the most glorious way.

“Mmm…” Karen sighed, letting her fingers brush across Grace’s lower lip. “Now  _ that’s _ what I was waiting for.”

Grace melted at her girl’s touch. “So, what, you just brought me here to go all  _ From Here to Eternity _ on me?” she asked. “Throw me down on the beach, kiss me fiercely as the waves crash over us?”

“Oh, please, and get sand and salt water everywhere? Do you know how much this cost?” Karen asked as she briefly pulled back from Grace’s touch to motion down the length of her dress. A spark of light flashed in her eyes as she brought Grace in closer, her lips to within an inch of the redhead’s ear. “No, honey,” she murmured huskily, Grace already beginning to dissolve into her. “If I’m going to do  _ anything, _ I’ll be taking you to the backseat of the car so I can fuck you comfortably.” She paused for a brief moment before throwing out “You know, like a lady” like a diabolical afterthought. She dipped her tongue into Grace’s ear, coaxing a moan from her girl’s throat. “Of course, if you want to stick around the water for a little longer,” she teased, “I’m not going to stop you.”

Grace felt the explosion of Karen’s touch as it burrowed underneath her shirt and started to glide up her spine. Good  _ god, _ the way Karen turned her legs into jelly...they might have to fall back on that  _ From Here to Eternity _ plan after all. “Take me back,” she managed in spite of herself, barely above a whisper. “Now.”

And she felt Karen’s tight grasp on her hand before her words evaporated into the air, giving in as it pulled her further and further away from the ocean.

It was the quiet urgency she felt surging through the dark haired woman’s touch that really got to her. The way Karen’s hold never once let up until they reached the car. The way Karen tugged at her from time to time as they rushed across the sand, like she couldn’t get Grace to their destination fast enough. The way Grace realized—once they finally made it to their parking spot and Karen had Grace up against the car, her kiss pressed just underneath Grace’s ear—that, in their haste, Karen had left the mimosa bottle behind on the beach. It made it impossible to speak; the air was thick with the thrill.

She had never known Karen Walker to ever leave a drink behind under any circumstance. And she couldn’t believe she was the one who could actually make it happen.

Karen opened the door to the backseat without her lips ever leaving Grace’s skin, waiting for her girl to get in. But the redhead couldn’t help riding this out a little longer, throwing her head back, welcoming the path Karen’s tongue was traveling along her neck as she let her leg start to slide up the dark haired woman’s. Her breath hitched when she felt Karen’s hand glide up her thigh, setting off a twinge between her legs that made her want to grab Karen’s hand and guide it to her clit right then and there. No one was around anyway; did she  _ really _ need to hide in the backseat to get off right now? It would be so easy for Karen to slip her touch underneath Grace’s shorts and…

“Honey,” Karen breathed in between kisses, “get inside the car, will ya?” She pulled away just enough to look Grace straight in the eye with a laser focus before her voice dropped to its lowest register. “I need to be able to deal with you properly.”

Grace felt the rumble of those words throughout her body, felt that twinge between her legs grow into a full-on throb, and knew that she was already so close, she was convinced that all Karen would need to do was say absolutely anything else in that voice and she would come. She couldn’t believe she was able to muster the strength to slide into the surprisingly spacious backseat and lie down across it as best as she could. In an instant, she found her girlfriend hovering over her, flashing that irresistibly wicked smile against the quiet of the early summer morning before her lips dove into Grace’s skin, riding the border of the redhead’s V-neck collar, her teeth grazing the places she knew drove Grace mad. And Grace started to melt into the backseat, her moans ebbing and flowing with the pressure. She desperately needed Karen’s lips exploring every inch of her, traveling lower and lower until she got her girl’s head between her legs; her body positively ached for it. She pulled her shirt over her head and threw it to the front of the car, plunging her fingers into Karen’s hair and guiding her slowly down her torso to her navel. And by the time she felt Karen’s hands journey up her thighs to her waist, working to undo her shorts, she was already trembling in anticipation of what Karen would do.

They hadn’t even been on this trip for twenty-four hours, but that desire to just run off and be with her had already snowballed in Grace, to where it could steamroll her in an instant. And she couldn’t wait to be decimated.

“Gracie?” Karen drew out as she pulled away from the redhead’s skin. “You’re vibrating.”

Grace couldn’t control the smile playing across her face. Because it was incredible that Karen felt it, too; the way she touched Grace--every way she touched Grace--made the redhead vibrate, quake, whatever you wanted to call it, in the best way. And the way Karen called it out so simply made it all feel so much stronger. “Mmm-hmm,” she sighed in response. “And it’s all your fault.”

“No, honey, I mean…” The dark haired woman trailed off as she reached into the pocket of Grace’s shorts and pulled out her cell phone, Will’s name and picture shouting at them as it buzzed against her palm.

Well, fuck. Why didn’t Grace leave her phone back at the house?

_ “Goddammit,” _ the redhead muttered. The timing this guy had...she didn’t know whether to laugh, vent her frustration, or both. All she knew was that her body was still crying out for Karen, and it was not going to rest until it got everything it needed. “Toss it,” she told Karen. “I don’t need him interrupting us when he isn’t even here.”

Karen arched her brow and lit a fire inside of her girl, throwing the phone into the driver's seat before shifting her focus back to Grace. She let her hands slide underneath the redhead, unhooking Grace’s bra, taking her breast into her mouth the second the lace disappeared. Grace cried out at the contact, arching her back as best as she could like she couldn’t get herself close enough to Karen’s mouth as the dark haired woman’s tongue danced circles around her nipple. Karen’s leg pressed against hers, and she felt it again, that vibration she was so quick to attribute to her girlfriend. But in the sheer ecstasy Karen already had her in, she swore to god this time was real. She wasn’t quite sure how and she didn’t quite care, but Grace swore that while Karen was hell-bent on leaving her mark on her breast, she was also doing  _ something _ that sent waves of electricity from her thigh to her core, sustained at first before dying down in a tease, only to spark right back up again. Grace tried to maneuver herself underneath Karen, sliding down so that vibrating-quaking-whatever could travel further up.  _ God, _ between that and the things Karen was doing with her tongue, she was starting to lose her mind. And she needed Karen to keep going until she was so completely gone.

“Oh, good  _ lord,” _ Karen nearly shouted in frustration, stopping everything she was doing to Grace and pulling back in a huff.

Wait...what? What the hell was going on? Did Grace do something? Was she not supposed to move like that? Christ. It figures she’d screw this up, their one chance at a little alone time for the day. But what did Karen expect? They didn’t have a lot of room to work with here; it wasn’t like this was going to be the smoothest fuck in the world.

But you work with what you’ve got. So why couldn’t Karen work with this?

“No, where are you going?” she whimpered before she lifted her head to find Karen hiking up the skirt of her dress and pulling a phone out of the hiding place the redhead thought she had given up years ago (they were no longer living in the age of flip phones,  _ how _ was she able to get it to stick like that?). She saw the way the screen lit up and was simultaneously relieved that it wasn’t her fault Karen stopped and annoyed that the vibration she felt was yet another literal vibration. “You still have a garter phone?” she asked.

Karen nodded like it was nothing out of the ordinary and sighed. “God, your husband won’t quit, will he?” She picked it up and rolled her eyes as she held the phone to her ear. “What do you want, Wilma?”

Oh, come on. There’s no way. He wouldn’t check up on Grace like this just because she missed one lousy call. Right?

“Cripes, honey, she’s a grown woman, would you quit worrying? She’s with me.”

Holy shit. He  _ was _ checking up on her.

“Yeah, we got sick of waiting for you kids to wake up, so we decided to take a little beach walk.”

Grace watched as Karen dealt with Will, unable to believe what she was hearing. It was almost like he knew, like he figured out why Grace had been so moody ever since they got here and wanted to catch them in the act. But they had been careful, not just in the Hamptons, but from that first moment in the office when Karen caught her by the hand, pulled her in and kissed her with a passion she had never known before. To be fair, their friendship  _ had _ been stretching the definition of “platonic” to its limits in the first place. But Grace made sure they never strayed outside of their normal whenever they were around Will, Jack, or anyone who could potentially send word back to them.

He didn’t know. He couldn’t.

But he did know  _ her, _ way too well.

If he hasn’t figured it out by now, it would only be a matter of time. And it was crazy that Karen had just brought her to one edge, only for Will to pull her back to a completely different one.

_ “Fine,” _ Karen groaned into the phone. “We’re heading back, we’ll be home soon.” She hung up and slipped the phone back in her garter before giving Grace a sad smile. “I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that just killed the mood,” she said softly.

The redhead gave a small shrug. “Little bit.”

Karen sighed her surrender. “So close,” she lamented before leaning in and gently brushing her lips against her girlfriend’s. “But don’t worry, honey,” she whispered. “We’ve still got a few more days. I’m not giving up yet.” She reached for the driver’s seat to grab Grace’s shirt and bra for her. “Maybe we should have skipped town when we had the chance,” she joked as she climbed out of the backseat.

“What have I been trying to tell you?” Grace smirked. She pulled her shirt over her head, climbed into the passenger seat and shoved the bra she didn’t waste time putting back on into the glove compartment; it wasn’t like she could just walk into the house with it in her hand without having to field a few questions, and that was  _ not _ a conversation she wanted to have right now.

They were quiet on the drive back, the radio station Karen had landed on earlier filling the air for them. Grace wanted so badly to break the silence between them, but every time she tried to find the words to do it, they either stuck in her throat or weren’t there to begin with. She wanted to tell Karen it was okay. That of course she was disappointed, but she knew it wasn’t her fault. That at least they got a little time together on the sand before Will decided to butt in. That their little beach walk will be the thing that gets her through the rest of the day. But the quiet was so thick, she just couldn’t cut through it.

It wasn’t until Karen’s right hand dropped from the steering wheel and landed softly above Grace’s knee that the redhead realized she didn’t have to cut through it; Karen already knew. And just like that, the quiet soothed her better than anything else could have in that moment.

When they finally made it back to the house, Grace tried to hide any lingering visible traces of the spell Karen had her under. They walked in to find Will and Jack lounging on one of the couches, each with a coffee mug in his hand, and the redhead wondered what the hell was so urgent that they had to cut their rendezvous short. “You rang?” she sighed to get their attention.

Will turned to meet her gaze and smiled. “You were gone and didn’t leave a note, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. When did that become a problem?”

“I don’t know, when did  _ you _ decide to turn into my dad?” It sounded a lot harsher than she meant it too, Grace knew, and she tried to do a little damage control by flashing a smile she hoped didn’t look as insincere as it was. And just when she thought she was in the clear and she started the trek upstairs to her bedroom, Will stopped her with an admittedly fair question.

“Uh, Grace? What happened to your shoes?”

She froze at the bottom of the stairs and looked down to find herself barefoot on the hardwood. As covertly as she could, she looked at Karen to the right of her, and found her girlfriend’s perfectly pedicured toes free from the confines of the sandals she initially left the house in. And she couldn’t believe that the mimosa bottle wasn’t the only thing they left behind during their escape from Gin Beach.

It seemed like something that couldn’t be overlooked, especially when your bare feet make contact with something like the pavement of a parking lot. But Karen had the ability to make Grace forget everything that wasn’t her; it made total sense to the redhead that they didn’t even notice what they had forgotten.

Not that she could explain that to Will, though.

“I…” Come on, think of something. Anything. “I took them off before we came in.” Okay, that was good. And it technically wasn’t a lie. Way to go, Gracie. “Didn’t want to bring all that sand into the house.” She couldn’t contain the smirk coming to play across her face as she glanced over at her girl. “Who knows what Karen would have done to me?” she asked, hoping Karen would see the flash in her eyes that would take them back to their morning escapade.

The dark haired woman was glowing with a playfulness that never seemed to burn out. “I’m sure you can think of a few things, honey,” she murmured before heading up the stairs, brushing against the redhead on her way. And Grace couldn’t help but follow, ignoring Will’s plea to hurry back down here so they could actually do something today and rushing to catch Karen’s hand the second they were out of the boys’ sight. They quickened their pace until they got to Grace’s bedroom, waiting until the door was closed behind them to break out into a quiet laughter.

“What happened to your shoes, Gracie?” Karen teased in the same singsong voice she used to wake her girl up this morning, sliding her arms around Grace’s waist.

“What happened to the mimosas, Karen?” Grace singsonged back, her grin growing wider when she saw Karen laughing that breathless laugh a little harder.

Karen waved it off, trying to calm herself down. “Okay, okay, so let’s make a deal. We endure whatever family activity hell Will and Jack have in mind for a few hours, and then we find a window where we can sneak back to the beach and pick up where we left off.” Her eyes brightened as she brushed a lock of Grace’s hair behind her ear. “And if we happen to find the crap we left behind this morning, so be it. Whaddya say?”

God. This woman could soften the blow of disappointment like nobody else could ever dream of doing. With a nod and kiss, Grace sent Karen off on her way so she could have a few moments to collect herself and prepare for the day ahead. She checked herself in the mirror, ran a brush through her hair. She dug through her suitcase for a replacement pair of sandals. She couldn’t stop thinking of how their shoes were planted in the beach grass as if they planted their flag on the moon, proof that they were there and their love was real. It made the promise of family activity hell a little easier to take.

It made the smile on her face look genuine when she journeyed back downstairs to Will and Jack. Because, if she was being completely honest, it was.


	3. Day 3: Through a Summer Storm

_**“So let’s go running, laughing through a summer storm** _   
_**Fumble up the stairs to find all the windows open** _   
_**And I’m feeling happy everywhere inside my body** _   
_**I wanna be where you take me, I adjust** _   
_**Because you are love, and love is home”** _

_ Day 3 _

“Would you look at him? That boy can  _ not _ take his eyes off of me.”

Will furrowed his brow and turned in his chair, scanning the restaurant for the guy Jack was talking about until his eyes landed on the bartender staring at their table. He tried to follow the bartender’s sight line (a fairly easy feat, considering Karen bribed the host for the table closest to the bar) and shook his head. “Jack, I don’t think he’s looking at you. If anything, he’s gawking at Karen downing gin non-stop like it’s water.”

Karen threw him a tight lipped smile from across the table. “Well, I  _ was _ going to foot the whole bill, but keep it up, honey. I don’t mind you paying your own way tonight.” She drained the last of her drink and signaled towards the bar for another. “I’m not usually this generous, Wilma. Get on board already.”

“Will, I get it,” Jack consoled in that tone of voice he always fell into when he thought he was talking down to someone. “You’re trying to pretend you’ve still got it, but how can you possibly believe yourself when your younger, prettier friend is getting all the attention?” he asked, motioning to himself.

Will’s eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?! I’ve still got it.”

“Oh, William,” Jack smiled smugly, doubling down on the condescension. “Poor, sweet, balding on top William. Don’t you know it’s okay to age gracefully?”

“Oh please, look who’s talking!”

That was all it took for the boys to lose themselves in their own drama and forget about the women sitting across from them entirely. Once they started talking over each other, voices jumping up a few octaves, Karen leaned her elbow on the table, covering her face with her hand so Will and Jack wouldn’t be able to read her lips should they remember they weren’t the only ones at this table. She looked at Grace sitting next to her, hunched over and spaced out with her finger absently running around the rim of her wine glass, and took a breath.

“Lean back,” she murmured softly.

Grace kept playing with her glass for a few moments before realizing someone had actually decided to talk to her. She pulled back into reality and glanced over at Karen. “Me?” she asked.

“Yes, you.” Karen’s sly smirk colored her whisper, and Grace found herself already going weak at the sound of it. “Lean. Back.”

“Why do you need me to--”

Karen’s hand traveled from its resting place on Grace’s thigh, sliding higher and higher until the redhead’s breath hitched.

Oh.  _ That _ was why.

“Unless you don’t want me to,” the dark haired woman added, her playful tone unable to hide how sincere her concern for Grace’s boundaries was.

And god help her, Grace thought it was insanely hot.

“You really want to do this here?” she smirked as she did what Karen asked, undoing the button of her pants, keeping an eye on the boys across the table in case they decided to bring their attention back her way. They eventually got up and made their way to the bar and Jack’s supposed admirer without so much as a word to the girls, but Grace knew they still weren’t safe. The restaurant was packed with people. There were servers constantly weaving through the tables to clear plates and grab drink orders. It seemed inevitable that at some point, someone would catch her with Karen’s hand down her pants.

But if she was being completely honest, the thought gave her a thrill she couldn’t help but surrender herself to.

“Well sure, why not?” Karen murmured slyly. “Let’s play a little game: Hide the Orgasm. When I make you come, you have to make it look like I’m not. Make it through without getting any strange looks, and you win.”

The redhead arched her brow. “What makes you so sure you can make me come right now?” she asked playfully.

The way Karen choked back a laugh set off a twinge between Grace’s legs as if she didn’t already know her question was ridiculous. “Honey,” Karen drew out, her hand traveling from Grace’s thigh to the waist of her pants, “When have I  _ ever _ failed you?”

And before Grace could even try to form a response, she felt Karen slide her clit between her fingers.

“Oh my  _ god,” _ the redhead whispered, her right hand instinctively clutching the table. She didn’t realize how starved she was for Karen’s touch until she had it; there was no way she was going to win this game.

“No panties, honey?” Karen asked wryly, her fingers dancing their finest routine between her girlfriend’s legs. “Were you expecting a little fun tonight?”

Grace let out a soft “Mmm…” before she realized she couldn’t let herself go completely. She tried to steady herself before she spoke. “I figured…” she started, knowing that her best bet was to go as slow as she could, “I should be prepared...if we found a moment...to sneak away. Maybe to the ladies room. But this way...it wouldn’t be like last time.”

God, last time. Karen’s birthday dinner with the gang. Grace and Karen were brand new. And Grace wanted to slip off to the restroom for a few moments to give Karen a private gift. She locked them inside the biggest stall, got down on her knees and hiked up Karen’s skirt, letting the dark haired woman guide her wherever she wanted her to go. But Karen Walker was not one to kneel down on a bathroom floor, so when she insisted on giving Grace a little gift of her own after she came, she pulled the redhead up to her level so she could let her fingers do the talking. Except Karen wasn’t used to dealing with Grace in such a confined space. And Grace wasn’t used to being dealt with in such a confined space. And by the time Grace had gotten tangled up in her panties trying to slide them off (not realizing it would just be easier for Karen to slide her hand underneath them), by the time she had stumbled and bashed her legs against every surface in the stall trying to give Karen easy access, they had heard a flush a few stalls down and froze, unable to believe they didn’t notice someone coming in, effectively killing the mood as they waited until the coast was clear to make their own exit.

But at least she made Karen’s birthday a little happier. That was all that mattered...even if she  _ did _ spend the rest of that dinner wound up beyond belief.

Now, though, Karen laughed into her fresh gin as she took a sip, never once stopping the motion that was setting Grace off underneath the table  _ (how _ was it so effortless for her to act like nothing was going on?). “At least I got to thank you properly later,” she smirked, making the memory flood Grace’s mind. How they rushed back to the manse after dinner. How they didn’t even make it upstairs to one of the infinite bedrooms in the place. How Karen pushed her up against a wall in the foyer to show her gratitude. How her cries echoed all around them and how Karen smiled against her skin as they filled the air. Grace felt herself falling deeper and deeper into the images running through her head, dissolving into the frenzy until…

_ “Kare!” _ Grace gasped back into reality as the dark haired woman’s fingers twisted to brush against her clit in a way that took her by complete surprise.

“You’re gonna lose the game, Gracie,” Karen teased.

“I don’t care,” Grace breathed, even though her eyes were darting around the restaurant just to be sure she hadn’t called attention to herself. “Just don’t stop.” She turned her head to look her girlfriend in the eye and saw how pleased Karen was with herself. Maybe it should have pissed her off, knowing that Karen knew exactly what she was doing, getting exactly the reaction she expected to get, realizing her chances of getting Grace to vocalize the things she was making her feel inside a crowded restaurant. It was exactly the kind of shit Karen thought she could pull and get away with.

But looking at the fire in Karen’s eyes right now, Grace knew she would let her get away with it.

She couldn’t stop staring at Karen; it was like studying the dark haired woman’s features intensified the electricity between her legs. But then a “Karen? Is that you?” pulled her girlfriend’s attention away from her, and she started glaring around the restaurant, trying to figure out who dared to interrupt her good time.

Karen waved across the room with her free hand, allowing Grace to lock her gaze on a woman shooting the fakest smile she had ever seen in their direction. “Oh! Lucille!”

Grace’s features twisted in a mix of confusion and ecstasy. “Who?” she whispered, watching the woman who called out Karen’s name getting closer and closer to their table.

“Lucille Bronfman. It’s actually good timing, I need to weasel our way into that party of hers tomorrow night anyway.”

The redhead’s jaw dropped. Karen’s hand was down Grace’s pants, she was making that surge in Grace’s core grow stronger and stronger, and she thought  _ this _ was good timing? But before she could object, Lucille Bronfman was standing across from them, the flurry of activity underneath the table out of her sightline (thank god) as she focused her attention on Karen’s rock solid poker face.

“Karen, darling, we didn’t expect to see you this year,” Lucille droned on in that ultra snooty tone Grace only ever heard on TV, like the woman took her vocal cues from cartoon characters. She scoffed before she had a chance to stop herself, trying to hide it in a cough so she wouldn’t blow Karen’s chances of getting them invited to tomorrow’s party and keeping their secret safe a little while longer. She waved off the other women’s glances and muttered an apology before turning focus back to the way Karen swirled her touch around her clit while still holding her end of the conversation with Lucille.

“Well, honey, I  _ did _ end up with the beach house, so why let it go to waste?” Karen chirped. God, she was good. She was so good. She was—

_ Fuck, she’s so good, _ Grace thought as the surge in her core drowned out everything around her. She didn’t hear what Lucille was saying; as far as she was concerned, Lucille wasn’t even there. No one in the restaurant was even there. It was only her, only Karen, only the explosion in her core that she just had to give into; there was no way she could help it.

“Ohhh my  _ go—“ _ she started to shout. But as she felt Karen kick her under the table to snap her out of it, she took that as her cue to slide into a coughing fit as she rode out her orgasm, letting go on for a few seconds after for good measure and hoped to god it was convincing enough.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Karen feign a pitch perfect look of concern as she slid the hand she kept above the table over the redhead’s arm. “Honey, are you okay?” she asked, and Grace swore she could hear a hint of a wink in her voice. “Here, drink this.” She pulled a glass of water over to Grace, their fingers brushing against each other as Grace grabbed a hold of it.

“I’m okay,” Grace managed before taking a sip of water for show. “Thanks.”

Karen signaled their nearby server for the check before turning back to Lucille. “Well, Lucy, we’re outta here, but you can count us in for tomorrow night. See ya then!” They watched Lucille make her exit as Karen shoved her platinum card in the server’s face before he could even hand her the bill. “I’m not really sure that you won,” Karen murmured to Grace when the server was out of earshot.

“Oh, I won,” Grace said as triumphantly as possible, knowing full well she wasn’t talking about the rules Karen had laid out. “I definitely won.”

The dark haired woman’s smirk could not be contained. “You know...it’s not too far of a walk back to the house. Whaddya say we hand the car keys over to Will and head back? Let them take their time at the bar?”

Grace felt a smile break out across her face, growing wider by the second. “I say let’s go.”

Karen signed the check before she took Grace’s hand in hers and gave it a squeeze, pulling her up from her seat and leading her to the bar. Will and Jack were considerably quieter than they were before they left the table, their argument seemingly quashed by a round or two of drinks. Karen fished around her purse for the keys to the rental car, tossing them on the bar when she finally found them. “Here you go, kids,” she announced. “We’re gonna head back to the house. Take all the time you need.”

Will picked up the keys and furrowed his brow. “You’re not going to need the car?” he asked incredulously.

And without thinking twice, Grace blurted out, “Karen has money. We’ll just call for a car,” figuring it was better than trying to spin the truth in a way that didn’t make it sound like they were about to take a romantic moonlit walk. Will nodded after a moment, her answer good enough for him, and turned back to his drink, leaving Grace and Karen to hurry out of the restaurant and into the night.

They walked hand in hand, staying quiet, listening to the gentle roar of the ocean off in the distance. The peace Grace felt was overwhelming; she wanted to feel it all the time. But before she could stop herself, she felt the words in her throat, threatening to break the spell for a few moments until she finally surrendered and asked the question she couldn’t help but want the answer to.

They were a few minutes away from the house when she took a breath. “Were you really friends with her?”

Karen tightened her hold on Grace’s hand as she shifted her gaze from the path ahead to her girlfriend. “Who?” she asked.

“Lucille Bronfman,” Grace mocked, doing her best to imitate the woman’s snooty cartoon lilt.

Her heart swelled at the sound of Karen’s laugh. “God, I don’t know,” she said once her voice steadied. “I’m not sure if you can even be true friends with the people in that circle. They were friends of Stan’s, so when I came along, I guess they were forced to pretend to like me. Lord knows she didn’t want to invite me to her Fourth of July party tomorrow. But she felt obligated; I know she did. It’s all about keeping up appearances with that crowd.” Her smile suddenly got a little sadder as she shook her head. “Sometimes I can’t believe I fell in with all of that. I can’t believe I’m that kind of person.”

“But you’re not.” It was instantaneous, that answer, but it was so filled with conviction that Karen had to know Grace meant it. “You’re better than that. Really.”

“Oh, I am, am I?” Karen tried to tease, not being able to fully shake that sad vibe. “And how would you know that?”

The redhead offered up the most sincere smile. “I’d like to think I’ve gotten to know you pretty well over the years.” She inched herself closer to Karen, brushed her body against her girl’s.  _ “Extremely _ well over these last few months. I think I know what I’m talking about.” She brushed her lips against Karen’s gently, making them stop in their tracks as she lingered for a few moments. When she pulled away, there was something in Karen’s eyes that she couldn’t place, something she couldn’t remember ever seeing in those eyes. “What is it?” she asked.

Karen shook her head softly. “Nothing, honey. I’m just not used to this.”

“Used to what?”

“Being with someone who goes out of their way to let me know how they care about me.”

If there was ever a moment, this was it. The one that gave Grace the green light. The one that made her think that Karen was longing to hear those words. The one that opened the door. The one that made the weight of “I love you” feel light as a feather. Karen was guiding her through it, she was sure of it. Karen was waiting. And Grace wanted so badly to deliver. She took both of Karen’s hands in hers, looked her straight in the eye to let her know just how much she meant what she was about to say. “Karen, I--”

But she was cut off by a strong clap of thunder and the steady fall of raindrops attacking them from every direction.

_ “Seriously?!” _ Grace shouted as she looked up to the night sky, squinting as she felt the rain crashing against her face. The wildfire of her hair was quickly being extinguished, she was pissed at Mother Nature for her rude interruption, and she was cursing herself for forgetting to pack the waterproof mascara, but one look at the way Karen’s face lit up as she laughed made her forget about everything else. She watched as the rain began to weigh down Karen’s hair piece and run down her porcelain skin and couldn’t get over how beautiful she still looked. And when she felt Karen tug on her hand, she was thrilled to discover that the rain hadn’t dampened the spark her girl always carried in her fingertips.

“Come on!” Karen exclaimed as she pulled Grace into a run. “We’re almost home!”

They raced down the road, their hold on each other secure, their laughter growing every time one of them stumbled along the pavement of the empty street; Grace’s clumsiness showed itself more often, but the one time Karen fumbled over her own slingbacks, Grace felt so vindicated she laughed herself into a snort, something she hadn’t done in years, something that would have made Karen double over if she wasn’t the one leading this race. By the time they reached the house and made it inside, they were soaked through and couldn’t tell if they were more winded from the run or from their giddiness. Grace made it to the staircase and rested against the banister for a moment before Karen’s kiss crashed against her lips.

“You know, you’re kinda cute when you’re wet. And when you’re clumsy. And when you can’t control your laugh,” the dark haired woman said softly once she pulled away, her smile growing wider with each add on.

“Yeah?” Grace drew out, wrapping her arms around Karen’s shoulders. God, she could stay like this forever. She didn’t care that the boys could walk in any minute; let them stare, let them feel scandalized. She didn’t care that the rain had soaked her, raised a few goosebumps along her skin and started to make her shiver; all she had to do was hold Karen a little closer to her and let the warmth overtake her. But they would have to move sometime. Maybe they would eventually make their way upstairs and finally do what they came here to do, feel the breeze coming in from the open windows as they--

Wait.  _ Open _ windows? Will read the weather report to them over breakfast this morning, didn’t they remember to--

Oh. No.  _ Shit. _

“How cute am I when I tell you that we forgot to close the windows upstairs?” Grace sighed.

Karen narrowed her eyes like she was trying to figure out the joke when there wasn’t one. “Are you serious?” she asked.

“Unfortunately.”

“Devil.” Karen broke free from Grace’s hold and rushed up the stairs, the redhead close behind as they silently split up the rooms on the second floor, shutting the windows before the rain had a chance to really get anything wet. Grace saved her bedroom for last, hearing the door close behind her and feeling Karen’s arms wrap around her waist as she finished shutting out the rain. She turned around to face her girlfriend and saw that Karen had ditched the hair piece and let her natural hair flow. She always loved when Karen did that, loved being able to plunge her fingers into it, play with it, twirl it around when they were actually able to spend the night together, when Karen rested her head on Grace’s chest and let her girl soothe her as they drifted off to sleep. She let her touch brush against her girl’s dampened locks as Karen took a breath.

“Now honey, what were you going to say back there, before we were interrupted?”

Grace furrowed her brow. “What was I going to say?” she asked, so content in this moment that for a second, she couldn’t remember anything that came before, could not for the life of her remember what she could have possibly started saying before the rain started falling.

“Yeah, you know… ‘Karen, I…?’”

Oh. Right.  _ Karen, I love you. _ But hadn’t that moment passed already? Maybe the rain was a sign, maybe it stopped her from making a fool out of herself. If she was going to go that far, maybe the guys inviting themselves to the Hamptons was a sign all along. No time alone with Karen, no chance of her accidentally ruining the good thing they had going. Maybe Will and Jack had saved her without even realizing it.

Maybe she should just cool it for now and enjoy what was left of their vacation as best as she possibly could. Save that talk for Manhattan. That feeling fluttering around in her chest would still be there when they got back home.

But Karen was still waiting for an answer. So she took a breath and smirked. “Karen, I...never got the chance to properly thank you for taking care of me,” she murmured. “You know, back at the restaurant.”

The dark haired woman’s smile curled in that irresistibly wicked way that always made the redhead weak. “Well, we’re alone now. And we  _ do _ need to get out of these wet clothes.”

In an instant, she felt Karen burrow underneath her shirt and slide it off her body like it hadn’t just been plastered to her skin by the rain, those shivers she felt downstairs now completely revitalized by the fireworks of her girlfriend’s touch. But before she melted into the sensation, before she gave in to the promise of Karen making her come again, she made herself snap out of it. After all, she had already had her fun.

It was Karen’s turn now.

Grace reached around Karen’s back for the zipper of her dress, sliding it down her body seamlessly, planting her lips against every inch of her girl’s newly exposed skin as Karen slinked out of it. She pushed Karen down onto the mattress, straddling her as she unhooked the dark haired woman’s bra and tossed it to the floor so she could swirl her tongue around her nipple in that way that always threw Karen into overdrive. Karen’s moan started low, growing stronger with each flick of Grace’s tongue until she plunged her fingers into the redhead’s hair and tried to guide her.

“Lower,” Karen pleaded.

Grace lifted her head and smirked. “Already?” she asked. They usually fooled around for a little while longer before Karen got to this point; maybe she was just as starved for this as Grace had been.

Karen nodded against the mattress.  _ “Fuck, _ Gracie, I need it. I need  _ you.” _

Well. Grace couldn’t say no to that.

The redhead sat back in the space between Karen’s legs as her girl lifted her hips for her. Grace let her hands travel up Karen’s thighs until she could hook her fingers inside the waist of Karen’s panties and slide them off her body. She brushed her lips against Karen’s inner thigh while she let her fingers wind themselves through the curls between her legs. Grace wanted to bring Karen to the edge with that anticipation, make her wait just a few seconds more. She drew her tongue along Karen’s folds, making the dark haired woman whimper the instant she made contact. “Honey,  _ please,” _ Karen moaned. And  _ god, _ Grace was so ready to give Karen everything she wanted.

But then there was a knock on the door.

And then there was a voice.

“Grace?”

And her heart and her hopes sank. Because  _ goddammit. _ Weren’t the guys supposed to still be downing drinks at the restaurant?

“Will?!” Grace called out, wide-eyed, heart racing. “I thought you were still out.”

“We were,” Will answered from behind the door. “But Jack got bored once he realized the bartender had to give his attention to more than just him.”

Grace sighed and rolled her eyes. Of course that’s what happened. She should have seen it coming.

She could hear Will jiggling the doorknob and thanked god that Karen had the foresight to lock the bedroom when she came in. “Can I stop shouting at you through the door and come in?”

Fuck no. Of course not. But what reason could she possibly give for keeping him away? She didn’t really think “Yeah, I’m kind of busy right now, can you come back when I finish going down on Karen?” was going to fly with him. “Uh...just a second?” she asked, uncertainty coating her words as she scrambled to get off the bed and grab the robe she had tossed on the floor this morning. She shrugged into the robe and covered up her bareness before making her way to the door, opening it just enough to talk face to face without him discovering Karen naked and sprawled out on her bed. “What’s up?” she asked, trying to hide the fact that she was catching her breath.

“I was just gonna see if you were up for a nightcap.” He studied her for a second. “But I guess you’re headed for bed.”

He just gave you an out, Grace. Take it.

“Yeah, I’m pretty tired,” she said, willing herself not to turn around at what she swore was the sound of Karen failing to contain her breathless laugh. “Maybe tomorrow night?”

“Sure.” Will started to leave, allowing Grace to let out the breath she didn’t realize she was holding before turning back to the door. “Are you okay, Gracie?” he asked, concern painting his face.

No. This was not how he was going to get her. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

“I don’t know, you just look a little flushed. You’re sure?”

Grace couldn’t speak, just nodded and hoped her face didn’t give everything away.

It seemed to satisfy Will. “Alright. Goodnight, Gracie.”

“Night,” she murmured before closing the door.

God, finally. Just let her get back to her night. Let her get back to her girl. Let her…

She turned back to the bed to discover that Karen was no longer in it, was sliding back into her wet dress and sealing their fate. “Wait, we’re not done,” she said.

Karen looked at her girl and offered up a defeated smile. “You really think we can keep going now that he snapped us out of the moment?”

Grace shrugged. “We could…”

“Honey, come on. I know you. You’re not going to be able to enjoy yourself if you know they’re close by.”

Yeah. Karen knew her, alright.

“It’s okay, really,” the dark haired woman continued, seemingly reading Grace’s disappointed mind as she brushed her lips against her girl’s. “I can take it from here.”

Grace’s features twisted in curiosity. “What are you talking about?”

“Gracie...you know how our bathroom has a detachable shower head?” Karen let her smirk linger in the pause. “I’m sure you can figure it out.” 

Oh.

_ Oh. _

God. Why didn’t she think of that yesterday when they came back from Gin Beach?

Karen kept her gaze on Grace as she stepped backwards towards the door. “I’m just gonna...you know...hop in the shower…” she said as she gestured behind her.

Grace couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah...you do that,” she smiled. “Just don’t tire yourself out, okay? We’ve got a big day tomorrow.” Her smile got a little wider as Karen made an exaggerated show out of blowing her a kiss before leaving the room. And sure, it may have been a joke. But every joke had a hint of truth. They  _ did _ have a big day tomorrow. Fourth of July, the Bronfmans’ party. Spending all that time with people she didn’t know and didn’t care about, searching for an exit when there probably wasn’t one.

Grace was already exhausted by the thought of it.

She shrugged out of her robe and slid out of the pants Karen didn’t get around to taking off of her. She climbed into bed and turned off the light on her nightstand, staring up at the ceiling fan spinning above her. She got lost in it, making her unaware of how long it actually took for Karen to come back to her. But then, how long it took never really mattered; the fact that Karen always came back to her did. She felt the mattress give as Karen climbed in, resting her head on Grace’s chest, sighing contentedly as the redhead started twirling her hair around her fingers. They let the quiet surround them.

And they savored what could very well be their last moments of peace on this trip as they fell asleep.


	4. Day 4: From Across a Gossip-Filled Room

_**“From across a gossip-filled room** _   
_**You look at me and just know** _   
_**By the way I’m holding onto the chair** _   
_**By the way I sent the signal, ‘Get me out of here’** _   
_**There’s nothing like being seen by the one you love”** _

_ Day 4 _

Karen notwithstanding, Grace just didn’t understand rich people.

She didn’t understand inviting people you don’t like over for a Fourth of July party that just seemed exhausting to plan. She didn’t understand letting that party last all day, having those people you don’t like drop in and out of your house from noon until night, until it was dark enough outside to light up the sky with fireworks. She didn’t understand pretending to care about the infinite conversations you were bound to be roped into, pretending not to hear the way everyone was talking behind everyone else’s back, pretending your blood wasn’t boiling when they started talking behind the back of the woman you loved. It wasn’t worth the free booze that seemed to be flowing from every corner of the place; one of the perks of being in a relationship with Karen Walker was that you never had to go thirsty as long as you were with her. Hell, it wasn’t even worth the possibility of sneaking away to the Bronfmans’ bedroom upstairs with her girlfriend and have a private party of their own; they were only three doors down from Karen’s beach house, it would be so easy to just slip out of there and go home while the guys were still held up.

Which was exactly what Grace wanted to do right now. If only she could find Karen.

The four of them had strolled into the Bronfmans’ house early in the evening, when most of the guests would be a little liquored up and therefore a little more tolerable, and had been immediately greeted by Lucille Bronfman’s snooty cartoon voice and patented fake smile. Will and Jack had gone on ahead of the girls, ready to explore and drink and judge, while Grace had covertly woven her fingers with Karen’s and held on tight, unwilling to lose her in the crowd and be left to her own devices. She had followed Karen around as they grabbed a drink and made the rounds that the dark haired woman was apparently obligated to make, complete with painful small talk and desperate searches for a way out. And after she had watched Karen fake her way through her fifth conversation with some blonde whose name Grace instantly forgot and who honestly looked the same as every other blonde in attendance (god, where were they vacationing, Stepford?), she had found an opening and an empty seat and had tugged on Karen’s arm to guide her. But the second Karen had nodded and started to follow Grace, they had let go of each other. And by the time the redhead had sat down, expecting her girlfriend to follow suit, she had quickly realized that Karen had somehow gotten swallowed up in the crowd and was nowhere to be found.

She didn’t know any of these people. She didn’t  _ care _ to know any of these people. She wasn’t about to make the effort to find Will and Jack in this massive, crowded place. And she knew Karen would find her way back to her eventually. So she had burrowed further into the overstuffed chair she landed in, took a long sip off of her wine and waited.

The great thing about alcohol was that the more of it that was in these people’s systems, the louder those secret behind-your-back comments got, the easier it was for Grace to eavesdrop and keep herself entertained. So now, as she tightened her grip on the arm of her chair and took a deep, fortifying breath, she scanned the room for her girlfriend while she listened to the gossip surrounding her.

There was the remark gliding in front of her as two of the blondes from Stepford made their way to the bar: “All I’m saying is that she left for ‘vacation’ a few weeks ago, and she came back with a new nose. And it doesn’t even look that good.”

There was the juicy tidbit being shared to her right: “Did you hear? She’s screwing her divorce attorney.”

And the swift response: “Well, it’s only fair. He’s screwing his assistant.”

Grace drained the rest of her wine, cocking her head back to make sure she got every last drop. When she was sure she emptied her glass, she realigned herself to find that Karen had miraculously appeared across the room, directly in her sightline, a vision in the midst of this upper class hellscape. Karen’s eyes locked on Grace, her features softening the second she saw the redhead. For a moment, she made everything and everyone else fade away, the sight of her soothing Grace like nothing else ever could. For a moment, she made it okay that they were here, that they had to endure all of these people. For a moment, Grace was convinced that she could stay here all night if it meant being near the sheer light Karen was radiating now.

But then some woman behind her decided to speak up. “Wow. I can’t believe Lucille actually invited her.”

And some other woman behind her decided to respond.  _ “I _ can’t believe she actually had the nerve to show up. Could you imagine if Stan dropped in?”

And with that, Grace started white knuckling the arms of the chair. With that, she threw Karen a look that she knew would tell the dark haired woman to get her out of here. With that, she kept telling herself to bite her tongue, to not make anything worse for Karen. And she would have been able to keep her mouth shut, too...if only  _ they _ had been able to keep their mouths shut.

“Well, I just don’t get it,” the first woman said. “Why would you throw away everything that man has given you?”

“Because it didn’t make her happy.”

She didn’t think that she had said it out loud at first. And even if she did, she didn’t think it was that loud of a thought. But when she heard a very pointed “Excuse me?” coming from behind her, Grace knew she let it slip. For a second, she thought she could maybe get away with staying silent, letting the moment pass, make these women believe they were just hearing things. But she just could not let these two get away with it. She could not let them talk about Karen for another second longer. So she turned around in her chair and narrowed her eyes as soon as she got the two women in her view.

“She wasn’t happy. So she got out. Why would you make yourself miserable like that?”

“You’re telling me she’s happy now?” the second woman asked her incredulously.

Grace arched her brow and smirked. “I can honestly say she’s satisfied.”

“And how would you know that?”

The redhead turned her head to find Karen still looking in her direction, the dark haired woman’s features twisted with a hint of concern as she found her girlfriend in conversation with women who were masters of backhanded compliments and well-crafted insults, and sent a conspiratorial smile to her before taking a breath and returning to the conversation.

“Because,” Grace drew out as the perfect response popped into her head. “I do this thing to her where I draw my nails up and down her thighs while my tongue’s circling her clit, and the noises she makes when I go down on her like that…” She let out a whistle before she continued. “If you heard them, you’d know how hard it is to fake them. So yeah…” she murmured as she registered the way the women’s jaws dropped and couldn’t help getting a little giddy over it, “I’d say she’s satisfied.” She watched the women try to gasp out any kind of response until she heard a voice from behind.

“Gracie?”

She turned to find Karen with a hesitant smile on her face. “Hi,” she said, the enthusiasm in her voice robustly genuine.

“Hi, honey. Whaddya say we get out of here, okay?”

“Sure,” Grace smiled as she took the hand Karen held out for her and stood up. “Let’s go.” She squeezed Karen’s hand as she was being led out of the house. “Have a good night, ladies,” she said smugly over her shoulder. And after pushing their way through waves of socialites, they made their escape.

The air around them instantly felt cooler and less suffocating once they made it out of the Bronfmans’ house. Grace and Karen both settled into the silence for a few moments, feeling the calm of the evening take over before Karen gently asked the question Grace knew would be coming eventually.

“What were they saying to you back there?”

Grace took a breath to buy herself some time. It was incredible how protective she felt over Karen right now, a woman who could probably destroy everyone in that house in about two sentences or less. And she knew she probably shouldn’t put so much stock in what they said. It was just what those women did; now that Karen had left, they would simply go on to the next victim. But it was one thing to overhear it about someone whose name she couldn’t put a face to. It was quite another to overhear it about the woman who let her in and proved all of those preconceived notions about her wrong the first time she held her hand. She wasn’t sure she wanted to pass it all down to Karen.

But as soon as she thought it, she swore she could hear her girl’s voice in her head.  _ Honey, I’m a big girl. I can take it. _ And besides, Karen always knew when she was holding something back. Always. So she linked her arm around Karen’s to bring her in closer, felt the dark haired woman’s head rest on her shoulder and sighed. “They weren’t really saying anything  _ to _ me...just around me. They were taking a few cheap shots at you, and I wouldn’t have it. So I spoke up.”

Karen lifted her head as she furrowed her brow at the redhead. “Gracie, what did you do?” she asked, unable to control the curious smile tugging at her lips.

“It wasn’t a big deal, honest,” Grace drew out in faux innocence. “They just didn’t believe you could be happy without Stan, and I told them what I do to make you happy.”

Karen’s curious smile grew into a full on grin. “You told them about the thigh thing, didn’t you?”

Grace shrugged. “I might have,” she smirked.

The sound of the dark haired woman’s laughter filled the air as they walked up Karen’s driveway to the front door. “God, I hope they think of that the next time they’re faking it with their husbands,” she said, the light in her eyes blinding Grace. “Look at you, honey, swooping in to defend my honor like that. My hero.”

“Hey,” Grace murmured with a wink in her voice, wrapping her arms around Karen’s waist and pulling her in underneath the shine of the porch light. “Anyone who tries to mess with you has to go through me first.”

There was a time when Grace could say something like that and instantly get some kind of snarky quip to keep the sincerity of it from slipping through the cracks of Karen’s walls. There was a time when those quips used to hurt, a time before Grace realized what Karen was doing. There was a time when Grace got used to it and knew it was Karen’s way of telling her that she took it to heart. But now, Karen slid her arms around Grace’s neck, brushed her lips against the redhead’s and let out the softest “Mmm” while she did it. Now, Karen murmured, “Well, then they don’t stand a chance” into Grace’s ear and sounded like she meant it.

Now, Karen held so much possibility in her eyes as she pulled away from the redhead to unlock the front door.

Too bad they wouldn’t be able to act on that possibility anytime soon.

Grace kicked off her shoes the second they got inside the house, giving the ground floor a quick scan before heading upstairs in search of Will; she may have lost track of the guys early on in the evening, but she figured that at the very least, Will would get as exhausted by the sea of socialites as she did. He was probably in his room, probably unwinding. Maybe she could make up for that rainchecked nightcap from last night. But all of the rooms upstairs were dark, all of the rooms upstairs were silent. And even though his apparent absence felt promising, she wanted to cover all her bases.

“Will?” she called out, waiting for an answer. And she got one. Just not the one she was halfway expecting.

“No honey, remember?” Karen shouted back from downstairs, causing Grace to make her way back to the landing on the second floor so she could see her girlfriend. “Wilma wanted to stick around to see the fireworks on the beach.”

Oh. Yeah. How could Grace forget? So Will’s accounted for. “And Jack?” she asked out loud.

“Gracie, come on...when have you ever known him to pass up a bunch of big, glittery explosions in the sky? He’s gone, too.”

Oh. Okay. So that means…

“Oh my god. So you’re telling me that we finally...  _ finally _ have this place to ourselves?”

The redhead looked down at the realization growing on Karen’s face and couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah,” Karen said, her voice getting more and more playful with each syllable. “I guess I am.”

Grace felt the way the twinge between her legs set off waves of anticipation throughout her body. This was it. This was what she had been waiting for, what they had so desperately tried to find these last four days. They would be leaving the Hamptons tomorrow, going back to stolen moments in the office and sneaking out of 9C to spend the night at the manse, setting an alarm so she could sneak back home without Will getting suspicious. They would miss their chance if they didn’t take it now.

This was their time. After the false starts and one-sided satisfaction of the last few days, this was finally their time.

And Grace was determined to take it.

She leaned against the railing, studying the dark haired woman for a moment before she smirked. “So, what are you waiting for?” she asked. “Take me to bed already.”

Her words lingered in the air, floating on the silence long enough to convince Grace that maybe she had read the situation wrong, that maybe she misheard the tone of Karen’s voice. Maybe Karen was tired (Grace honestly wouldn’t blame her, everything about the Bronfmans’ party was draining). Maybe she wasn’t in the mood. Maybe they would just wait until they got back to the comfort of Manhattan, because at least when they were there, they were able to fuck each other without anyone interrupting, without the threat of anyone finding out about it. Maybe they would just call it an early night, try to sleep against the sound of fireworks over the sand.

But then she saw the spark in Karen’s eyes that turned into fire. She saw that diabolical grin of hers fan the flames, and she swore she could feel the heat traveling one floor up. She saw the way Karen moved to the staircase like she was on a mission. And she couldn’t wait to feel Karen crash into her. She couldn’t wait for Karen to make her melt into the mattress until there was nothing left of her.

She couldn’t wait to salvage this trip once and for all.

* * *

_**“With my demons on vacation** _   
_**My thoughts are free to roam** _   
_**And I can kiss you without committing treason** _   
_**I have earned this, baby** _   
_**Because I did my time alone”** _

The first time Karen ever undressed Grace--back before they’d ever had a chance to memorize the maps of each other’s bodies--she did it with such intent that the redhead could feel the urgency in the way the dark haired woman’s nails scratched her skin as she pulled at the fabric. It surprised her. It excited her. It served as a little bit of proof that the things she always thought Karen was capable of were truly there, waiting to be unleashed. It made her want to be wherever Karen took her. And she would soon discover that Karen always took her to the most blissful place.

It shouldn’t have made her gasp, the way Karen scratched at Grace’s blouse now; it had happened so many times over the last few months that she should have been used to it. But the second their bodies collided at the top of the stairs and their lips met in an intense kiss, the redhead felt Karen’s nails and her intent and gasped into her girlfriend’s mouth with the same surprise and excitement and craving she did all those months ago. They tossed Grace’s clothes to the floor, leaving a trail of fabric to the redhead’s bedroom--the blouse at the top of the stairs, the skirt and panties further down the hall that slid off of her hips in one fell swoop once Karen hooked her fingers around them, the bra Grace unhooked and tried to throw into the room but it landed just outside the doorway--following it once Karen slid her hands down Grace’s bare curves and scooped her girl up into her arms. 

Grace wrapped her legs around Karen’s waist as she pressed her lips to the dark haired woman’s neck, smiling against her skin as she heard Karen sigh. She pressed herself as close as she could to Karen’s body, feeling herself go weak at the heat radiating from her girlfriend. But just as she resolved to never let go, she felt herself bounce against the springs of the mattress Karen just threw her down on, a moan escaping from her throat as Karen straddled her and immediately dove to the spot just under Grace’s ear that always drove the redhead wild, before she slid Grace’s nipple in between her fingertips. And good  _ god, _ did Karen drive her wild, especially now that they were finally, blissfully alone. She could kiss Karen without looking over her shoulder directly after. She could feel Karen’s tongue glide along her skin and cry out without worrying about being heard by anyone who wasn’t her girl. She could let herself go.

After everything that has kept them from this moment over the last few days, she earned this. And she wanted to get everything she possibly could out of it.

But at the rate Karen was going, she wasn’t going to get the chance. Because at the rate Karen was going, Grace was going to come before she ever got the dark haired woman between her legs.

Maybe Karen was thinking about the time constraint, wanted to do as much as she could to the redhead now before they lost their chance. Maybe she just wanted to bring out the big guns right off the bat because it had seemed like an eternity since the last time she was able to bring them out at all. But Grace knew that it wouldn’t take much to set her off; she knew she was already well on her way. And she wanted to be able to give Karen as much as she could before she was too spent to do anything for her.

“Wait, wait, wait, hang on a minute,” Grace murmured breathlessly, trying to swallow back another moan.

Karen’s lips froze against Grace’s neck for a moment before she pulled away, her brow furrowed as she hovered above her. “Honey, what’s this? What’s happening? Why’d ya stop me?”

The look in Karen’s eyes made it seem like the dark haired woman was convinced Grace didn’t want this. As if there could ever be a universe in which Grace didn’t want this, didn’t want Karen. She took a second to collect herself and study her girl. “I just want to see you,” she purred, pulling Karen closer to her, letting her hands travel to the zipper of her dress and slide it down. She nudged the fabric off of Karen’s shoulders and drew her lips to within an inch of her ear. “I want to see  _ all _ of you.”

She swore she could feel Karen go weak against her as she said that. Karen sighed in anticipation as she pulled away from Grace to wriggle her way out of her dress, smirking as she unhooked her bra and let the lace fall to the floor. “Get a good look while you can,” she teased as she settled herself back on top of her girl. Grace’s fingers flew to Karen’s newly exposed skin like they were following the strongest magnetic pull, making Karen shiver as they traveled up her spine. The redhead could tell that she made Karen lose her train of thought for a second, and she tried to bite back her smile. “You know how this always goes,” Karen continued after getting herself back on track, getting her lips close enough to make Grace feel her words on her skin. “I’m gonna start moving down your body,” she said before planting a kiss on her neck, “and you’re gonna start throwing your head back,” another kiss on her collarbone, “and scrunch your face up the way you always do when you come,” she let her tongue ride along Grace’s skin for a moment, “so you can’t see anything in front of you even if you wanted to…”

Grace’s  _ “Mmmm…” _ was cut short when she heard that. “I make a face when I come?” she asked, a hint of concern mixing in with the thrill in her voice over Karen’s touch. Because that was the last thing she needed: looking absolutely ridiculous when she wanted to turn Karen on as much as Karen was turning her on.

Karen stopped her journey down to Grace’s breast and lifted her head to look her girl in the eye. “Gracie,” she said softly, sincerity overwhelming her words in a way Grace couldn’t believe was possible. “I wish you could see how beautiful you look when you come.”

Maybe it shouldn’t have hit Grace the way it did. Maybe it was only meant to be a passing reassuring comment, something that would make Grace feel better and bring her back into the moment. But there was something about hearing it from the woman who normally wouldn’t hesitate to take you down a peg that just knocks the wind out of you in the best way. It filled Grace to hear the way Karen’s voice wrapped around those words. It made her want to keep Karen’s lips as close to her ear as she possibly could.

But she felt her girlfriend leaving a trail of kisses leading to her torso, and as much as she wanted to just give in to the sparks of each one, she knew she was about to miss her window.

She scratched at Karen’s back for a second to get her attention before letting her hands guide her head back to eye level. “Stay here,” she whispered, letting her fingers comb through Karen’s hair as she studied the hazel eyes staring back at her. “Stay here with me.”

Karen gave a soft nod as her lips curled into a smile. “I’m right here, honey,” she whispered back, closing her eyes for a second as though she were taking in the feel of Grace’s fingers in her hair. “I’m always right here.” She lowered her head to brush her lips against Grace’s, gently at first before letting the passion in the air get the better of her, kissing the redhead harder, her tongue tangled with Grace’s in a battle they were both about to win. And Grace got so lost in Karen’s kiss that when the dark haired woman’s fingers started dancing along her clit, it took her by complete surprise.

_ “Fuck, _ Karen,” she gasped, breaking the kiss as she threw her head back the way Karen said she would, the way she always did. She could hear Karen’s sighs of satisfaction over how wet she had become so quickly, feel the way her girlfriend was drawing circles between her legs, speeding up to make the redhead’s moans louder and louder before slowing back down again in a tease. Grace could already feel that surge growing in her core, becoming impossible to ignore.  _ God, _ she was ready to give in to it. She was ready to let go. Just not before she got everything she wanted. “Kare?” she breathed. “Kare, I…” But her request got swallowed up by a gasp as Karen’s fingers quickened their pace once again.

“Hmm? What was that, honey?” Karen teased, the smirk in her eyes hell bent on setting Grace on fire. “Tell me what you want.”

Good lord, the way Karen could make a genuine concern for her desires so playful was enough to consume every last bit of Grace. “I…” she tried to start, her train of thought getting knocked off course every time Karen twisted her fingers. “I want...to feel you...inside me.”

Karen pressed her lips against Grace’s, sealing the redhead’s request with a kiss. “Well, why didn’t you say so?” she purred as she pulled away, as if getting any kind of complete sentence out was easy when her touch melted everything else away. And she slid two fingers inside of Grace without once breaking her gaze.

Grace moaned at the sensation, wrapping her arms around Karen’s neck and holding on for dear life as her girlfriend moved in and out, the redhead matching the rhythm of her panting to the rhythm of the dark haired woman’s fingers. Every motion pulled her closer and closer to the edge, daring her to jump off. In the frenzy of it all, she pleaded, “Don’t stop...I’m so close” as if Karen would ever dream of quitting on her like that, as if her desires had ever been left unfulfilled in moments like this. It may have happened before, with others who were never really worth it to begin with. But never with Karen. Because Karen knew her. Karen cared about her. Despite all the evidence to the contrary when you walked into Grace Adler Designs at any given moment, Karen didn’t stop working until Grace was satisfied.

And now, Karen didn’t stop until Grace’s body was taut against hers, until the surge in the redhead’s core became too powerful and caused Grace’s eyes to close and her features to twist as she rode out her orgasm, until Grace cried out and let her voice seemingly fill up the entire house, until she fell back on the mattress, breathless and spent.

When she was finally able to open her eyes again, Grace found Karen hovering above like an angel, the smile on her face radiating the most brilliant light she had ever seen. “See?” Karen murmured, letting her touch brush along Grace’s jawline. “You’re beautiful.”

And in that moment, Grace couldn’t help but believe it.

She felt Karen lower herself onto the mattress, sliding into the crook of her arm as Grace tried to collect herself. They lay there in the afterglow, letting the peaceful silence blanket them. Karen rested her hand across Grace’s stomach, fingers splayed across the redhead’s skin like she still wanted to touch as much of her as she could. It was incredible how soothing that touch was so soon after it had decimated Grace. It was so easy for Grace to lose herself in the quiet, stay in this moment for as long as she could. But she knew how selfish that would be. And she wanted to give Karen as much as Karen had just given her.

“We’re not done here, you know,” she finally said to break the silence.

Karen lifted her head to meet her girl’s gaze. “What do you mean?” she asked as if she had already gotten her pleasure from getting Grace off. Maybe on some level she did. But Grace wouldn’t be satisfied until she knew for sure.   


The redhead smirked as she brushed a lock of her girlfriend’s hair behind her ear. “I still need to finish what I started last night.” And she pulled Karen in for a kiss, rolling her onto her back, letting her hands begin to travel Karen’s curves.

“Honey,” Karen murmured when Grace pulled away, her gaze following the redhead’s path down her body. She couldn’t help sighing over Grace’s lips against her skin, Grace’s fingers tracing fireworks along her breasts and down her torso. And Grace couldn’t help but smile over the fact that Karen was still trying to give her an out, even though she knew the dark haired woman was already giving in to her touch. “You know if you’re too spent, you don’t have to--”

But her words were swallowed up by her moan as Grace’s tongue swept across her clit in an opening salvo.

Grace lifted her head up from between Karen’s legs, licking her lips as they curled into a smirk. “I appreciate the concern,” she murmured huskily. “But I’ll be damned if you go back to the shower head tonight.”

She drew her tongue along the inside of Karen’s thigh until she reached her folds, teasing out a gasped “Oh my  _ god, _ Grace” and hearing the rustle of the sheets on either side of her as Karen started clutching them. She let her tongue brush against Karen’s clit once, then again, trying to bring her girl as close to the edge as she possibly could before truly making her dive off of it. She heard the way she made Karen whimper with each flick of the tongue, feeling it in her core more and more with every one, wondering if she was going to come again before she even made Karen come once. Karen tried to form the words to tell Grace what she wanted, and nearly every time, they got swallowed up in a moan as the redhead twisted her tongue in a new direction. Grace knew what Karen wanted. And Karen knew that Grace knew. And by the time the dark haired woman finally managed a “Fuck, honey,  _ please... _ just do it,” Grace knew that she had Karen exactly where she wanted her.

She knew exactly what she had to do.

With her hands on Karen’s hips, Grace let her tongue steadily circle her clit, making the dark haired woman gasp at first before her moans became timed with the ebb and flow of the redhead’s motion. She tried not to let the taste of her girl go to her head, but couldn’t help letting her mind swim with it for a moment before making her fingers stand at attention and drawing her nails down Karen’s thighs. In an instant, Karen arched her back as she cried out, getting louder and louder as she begged Grace to keep going. And as much as she wanted to lift her head to see the way Karen looked in this state, Grace wasn’t about to leave her wanting for anything. She quickened the pace of her tongue, thrilling as Karen’s panting followed suit, fighting back a smile as her girlfriend let out one final, drawn out cry when her orgasm overtook her.

Grace hoped they could hear the way she just made Karen scream all the way over in Stepford.

Karen relaxed breathlessly against the mattress as Grace pulled herself up from between her legs and moved to rest her head against her girl’s chest. The rise and fall of Karen’s breathing evening out started to lull her even as the bang of the first firework going off outside filled the air. By the time the second firework went off, Grace knew she had to face the fact that soon enough, they wouldn’t be the only ones in the house anymore. But at least they had had this time together. At least they were finally able to be together without driving to distant beaches or fooling around under the table or being blocked by phone calls and knocks on the door. This was how it was always supposed to be. And Grace didn’t think this moment could possibly get any better.

Until...

“For the record, honey,” Karen murmured against the din of the light show outside, her words barely above a whisper, “I love you, too.”

Grace froze, thinking maybe she heard wrong, thinking maybe the bang of the fireworks was playing with her hearing. But Karen didn’t take a breath to correct herself. When she lifted her head to meet her girl’s gaze, Karen didn’t look like she regretted it. Karen simply stayed there, letting her words float in the air, confident that Grace would catch them and hold them close.

This was real. This was what she had been wanting to hear for the entire trip, what she had been wanting to hear for (if she was being honest) the entirety of their relationship, from the moment Karen looked her in the eye after their first kiss with such sincerity that Grace knew they could never go back to the way things were between them. She never  _ wanted _ to go back to the way things were between them, not when she knew how wonderful it was on the other side of the line they crossed. Now, she knew Karen never wanted to go back either.

And knowing that filled Grace in a way she never realized possible. But there was just one little thing tugging at her mind. 

_ “Too?” _ she asked, still a little stunned by the way Karen so casually let it spill from her lips like she had known all along how Grace really felt. “How do you--”

“Oh, Gracie...you’re the worst poker player in the whole world,” Karen said inside a loving laugh as she brushed her fingers along Grace’s cheek. “You’ve been on the edge of saying it for so long, but you were  _ so close _ to saying it last night before the rain got in the way, and I thought that if I gave you an opening when we got back to the house, you would take it. Not that I didn’t love the turn you took instead…” she smirked.

“It would have been better if Will hadn’t interrupted it,” Grace muttered, still bitter about losing that time with her girlfriend.

“No arguments there, honey.” In that moment, something in Karen’s eyes shifted, made them softer, made her voice softer. “But I know you. I know all your tells. Your eyes can’t hide it.” She let her finger rest against Grace’s lips for a moment, smiling a little wider when Grace kissed it. “I wouldn’t want them to hide it.”

When Karen led Grace to her lips, the redhead tasted something so incredibly sweet, so incredibly safe that it would have brought her to her knees if she hadn’t been in bed. “You know,” Grace said as they pulled away, a smirk growing across her face, “you can’t say ‘Too’ when I haven’t said it yet.”

The light in Karen’s eyes was blinding. “So say it already,” she drew out.

Grace decided to play for a moment, made an exaggerated show out of a shrug and a huff. “Well, god...I don’t know if I want to say it now,” she teased as she sat up in bed, giving herself that distance from Karen’s body to really drive the ruse home.

“Gracie…” The dark haired woman narrowed her eyes as she watched her girlfriend move.

“No, seriously! If you make me say it, it’s going to take all the fun out of it, and then maybe it won’t mean as much, and--”

Before she could finish, Karen pulled Grace back down to her, the redhead laughing as she crashed into her girlfriend. “Honey, come on!” Karen laughed as Grace crashed against her. “You’re killing me, here.”

“Okay! Okay!” Grace exclaimed as she tried to settle down. “You’re so demanding.” She couldn’t help getting that one last joke in as she maneuvered herself to face Karen. But then she felt Karen relax her body right along with her, chest against chest, warmth radiating between them. She saw the way Karen’s eyes roamed her features and felt overwhelmingly like she was being seen. She realized how Karen always made her feel seen, long before they shared a bed, back when she couldn’t believe the way this Upper East Side socialite read her, understood her better than anyone she had ever known. She realized how her love for this woman ran so deep, filled her so much that she couldn’t keep it inside any longer.

So she finally said it--“I love you, Karen”--and held her breath even though she knew she couldn’t possibly be let down.

Karen cupped the redhead’s face in her hand, letting her touch linger for a moment before she spoke. “My Gracie,” she whispered, smiling at Grace’s sigh of contentment. “I love you, too. So much.”

Outside, the bursts of fireworks started coming faster, overlapping each other, giving everyone on the beach, everyone three doors down in Stepford what sounded like one hell of a grand finale. Which meant Will and Jack would be home soon. Which meant that Grace and Karen would have a decision to make, whether to tell the guys what they had been doing now or wait until they go back to Manhattan. Because they had to tell the guys now that they finally did the “I love yous.” Those words were out there; they weren’t going away. And Grace didn’t want them to go away. They would just need to figure out how to let their friends in on the secret.

But just as Grace’s mind was starting to spin from the prospect of telling Will and Jack everything, Karen pressed her kiss to the redhead’s lips, making everything else fade away. She didn’t care about the right words anymore. She didn’t care about how they would react. She didn’t care about how she spent so much of her time in the Hamptons nursing her annoyance and anger at them while missing out on all of the things she could have been doing with Karen. She didn’t care about the way they imposed themselves on this trip, and she didn’t care about all of the times she thought it would have been better if they had just stayed in the city. None of that seemed important now.

Because this moment, this woman, this love, was all that mattered.


	5. Day 5: You Are Love, Love Is Home

_ Day 5 _

It should have been the way the sunlight was spilling into the room from the windows that woke her up. It should have been the way Karen was already awake and absentmindedly tracing her finger along her arm as it lay draped over the dark haired woman’s torso. It should have been the song her girl was softly humming, low enough to blend into the air but distinct enough to pull her out of her slumber if she wanted to follow the music. It should have been the way Karen’s heart beat against her ear, adding a bit of rhythm to her song. It should have been any one of the things that kept the feeling of last night alive. But it wasn’t.

When Grace woke up, it was because she smelled that sweet smell of breakfast that just started wafting into their room.

“Is that bacon?” she asked, her voice still heavy with sleep as her eyes fluttered open.

Karen’s humming was cut off by her breathless laughter. “Well, good morning to you too, honey,” she chirped softly, planting a kiss in Grace’s wildfire locks. “How come you never wake up that quickly for me when we’re at home?”

“Because you don’t bring me bacon,” the redhead deadpanned before cracking a smile she knew Karen couldn’t see. But her girl could tell; her girl knew the game. Of course she knew. And of course she was willing to play.

“Come on, Gracie...don’t you know how big of a step that is?” Karen joked. “You can’t just wake someone up with bacon if you’re only fooling around with them.”

God, Grace loved this side of Karen. The side that plays along. The side that doesn’t even need to take a beat. The side that can keep the joke going. The side that can just as easily slip into the genuine when the moment called for it. And good lord, did this moment call for it. “Well that’s just it, isn’t it?” Grace drew out as her smile grew wider, lifting her head from the dark haired woman’s chest so she could meet her gaze. “We’re not only fooling around anymore.”

Karen’s eyes lit up as she brushed a lock of Grace’s hair behind her ear and let her touch linger. “We sure aren’t.”

The redhead leaned in to within an inch of Karen’s features. “So bring on the bacon,” she murmured. And she pressed her kiss to her girlfriend’s lips.

Grace remembered the first time Karen’s kiss tasted different, the first time she knew with everything she had that this kiss was nowhere near the realm of those other kisses they could pass off as part of the inherent intimacy that comes with female friendship. She remembered how it rocked her, how she knew there was no going back because she needed every kiss from then on out to consume her the way that one did. She remembered feeling so confident that every kiss from then on out  _ would _ consume her like that. And as the months went on, she basked in the knowledge that every kiss did.

She wasn’t expecting another moment like that, one where their kiss started to taste different, one that rocked her. But now, as she brushed her lips against Karen’s, there was something in the connection that she had never felt before, something that tasted sweeter and safer than anything she had ever known, something that so instantly felt like home. Something that signaled a new chapter full of promise and possibility. It was all Grace wanted to taste. 

And from the way Karen kept kissing her back, it was all  _ she _ wanted to taste, too.

“Honey,” Karen murmured as she pulled away, her smile coloring her voice. “Please tell me that ‘Bring on the bacon’ isn’t going to be our ‘I love you.’”

Grace bit down on her lower lip to try to contain the laughter that would surely give them away to the guys if they heard. “Maybe just when we’re here,” she giggled. “I like hearing you tell me you love me way too much to give it up.” She nestled into her girlfriend’s body and sighed. “I can’t believe we have to leave today,” she said as she rested against Karen’s chest again. “This trip was just starting to get good.”

“Well,” the dark haired woman said softly as she started running her fingers through the redhead’s hair, “we’ve still got a few weeks left before summer ends. Maybe we can find a weekend to run off to that design expo you made up.”

“Mmm, that sounds perfect,” Grace drew out before planting a kiss to Karen’s skin. “So how long do you think we can stay up here before Will and Jack start to get suspicious?”

“I’d say not that long.”

Her eyes grew wide as Karen’s body jolted against her in surprise over the voice.  _ His _ voice. No. This couldn’t be how everything was pushed into the light. This couldn’t be the big reveal. But even as she slowly turned to face the door, she knew she would also be facing the music. Her gaze landed on Will, leaned up against the doorway with Jack in tow, and she couldn’t find the voice to speak. But she knew it didn’t matter whether or not she spoke, and it didn’t matter whether or not she was ready; Will was going to get the ball rolling whether she liked it or not.

“Morning, ladies,” he said, his poker face surprisingly strong today.

“Morning, Wilma,” Karen chirped brightly before tilting her head to get a look at Jack. “Hiya, Poodle.” It was incredible how she made it sound like this was just a typical morning, like their privacy hadn’t just been invaded, like they weren’t completely naked and tangled up in each other underneath these sheets. Grace wanted to possess that same energy. But she just couldn’t do it. So she sat up, holding onto the sheets to cover her body, and tried to throw some of the focus back on the intruders.

“Yeah, hi, uh…” Grace fumbled, trying to get her bearings. “Don’t you knock anymore?” she asked, a little harsher than she meant to.

Will shrugged. “Of course I do...you know, when the door’s actually closed.”

Well, that’s stupid. Of course they shut the door last night. They always shut the door. They always hide themselves away. They always make sure no one will catch them. But as she looked past the guys, Grace saw her clothes strewn across the hall like a trail leading to their bed. And as she started to recall everything about last night, she remembered the way Karen carried her to the bed, the way the dark haired woman had instantly straddled her and made everything else fade away and…

“We didn’t close the door last night?” Grace muttered to Karen, who had sat up in bed next to her in the time it took for the realization to sink in.

“Honey, we had the place to ourselves! Why would we close the door?”

_ “Fuck _ me,” the redhead sighed in frustration, resting her head against the headboard as she scrambled for some kind of explanation that would sound good to the guys.

“Again?” Karen smirked, laughing as Grace nudged her to cut it out.  _ How _ was she joking around right now? Why wasn’t she squirming the way Grace was on the inside? They hadn’t even begun to talk about how to tell Will and Jack about their relationship, about what they had been doing behind their backs for so long. Wasn’t she angry? Or was she just trying to take it all in stride?

Maybe Grace should take a page from her girl’s book. Maybe she should just roll with it.

Maybe she should just come clean.

She put her face in her hands for a second before taking a breath and looking at the guys standing in front of them. “Okay, look,” she began wearily, feeling the words in her throat and knowing that once they started to spill they wouldn’t stop, “the thing is that we weren’t really expecting you two to want to come along for this trip. We were trying to figure out a way to sneak off and not worry about being together because…” Just say it, Grace. You’re going to have to eventually anyway. “Because we’ve been together for a few months now. And it’s real. And it’s serious.”

Will was silent for a minute, like he was waiting for Grace to finish. And when he realized she was done, he furrowed his brow. “That’s it?” he asked.

Um...yes? Wasn’t that the revelation that was going to shock him? Shouldn’t he have to sit down or something? What more could he possibly want? “What do you mean, ‘That’s it?’”

“Gracie, I knew that. I’ve known that for months. Well...maybe not the real and serious part. But I knew you two were messing around.”

Grace sat there wide-eyed and stunned. “How could you possibly know?! We were so careful!” She looked over to Karen for some kind of back up on this, but all the dark haired woman could do was shrug.

“Sweetie, I love you, but you are so bad at lying,” Will smiled. “You’re also not as quiet as you think you are.”

Oh god. “What does  _ that _ mean?!” she asked, almost positive she didn’t want whatever his answer was.

“Well, there were all the times you sneaked out of the apartment when you thought I was asleep.” Oh. Okay. That’s not nearly as bad as she thought. It wasn’t like he just told her…

“And, you know...there was that time a few months ago when I came by the office early to take you to lunch, and you sounded very...preoccupied back in the private office. And then I heard Karen back there too, making noises that didn’t even sound human…” 

“Oh!” Karen chimed in with a devious smile playing across her face. “That’s because she does this thing to me where she draws her nails up and down my--”

_ “Karen!” _ Grace reflexively covered her girlfriend’s mouth with her hand. But just as reflexively, Karen started sliding her tongue in between Grace’s fingers, simultaneously melting her and frustrating her as she tried to rein in the conversation. She couldn’t even be sure which time Will was talking about. She couldn’t tell if that was gross or impressive on her part. And she wasn’t about to try to figure that out now. “This is so not the time for that,” she muttered to Karen under her breath, not fully sure whether she was talking about Karen’s words or her actions.

Thankfully, Will decided to gloss over what Karen had almost told him. “Anyway, it was kinda easy to put it together after that. I’ve been trying to tell Jack, but he didn’t believe me until last night.”

Last night? “You were supposed to be at the Bronfmans’ watching the fireworks,” Grace said slowly, hoping it would prompt him to agree.

“We were, until we realized we could watch them from here and not have to deal with drunken socialites the whole time. No offense, Karen.” Out of the corner of her eye, Grace could see the dark haired woman give Will a little salute. “Needless to say, Jack believes me now.”

She would have laughed if it didn’t feel like her world was steadily crumbling to the ground. She had been so careful to protect what she was building with Karen, and in the end, it didn’t matter; the one time she actually had an important secret to hold, and it turned out she dropped it the first chance she got. It made her heart sink. But then she felt Karen’s hand slide over her own, felt her arm slide around her shoulders, and she realized she could be doing a lot worse right now. She could be facing this alone, she could be trying to explain what she was doing with someone she didn’t love, who didn’t love her. But Karen was here. Her love for Grace filled the room; the redhead could feel it. And Will seemed to be taking it all surprisingly well. So she started to relax.

At least until Karen tried to pull Jack into the conversation.

“Jackie?” the dark haired woman asked. “You’ve been awfully quiet over there.”

Jack took a breath that made Grace start to tense up. “What can I say?” he started with a shrug. “I’m disappointed, Kare.” Oh god, here we go. She should have known that he’d have something to say about it, how this didn’t fit perfectly with his perception of Karen. She wished he would just spit it out, get it over with. “You’ve been fooling around with Grace all this time...and you  _ still _ haven’t taught her how to dress?”

Before Grace could scoff out a defense of her fashion sense, Karen squeezed her hand. “Honey, to be fair, we weren’t really spending our time putting  _ on _ clothes…”

That was it. That was the thing that made a laugh escape the redhead’s lips. The thing that made this whole morning so deliciously ridiculous. Her worry over how the guys might take the knowledge of their relationship, over how it might change the dynamic of the friendship the four of them had cemented was pointless. Will and Jack knew, and they couldn’t care less. And she couldn’t believe her luck. She heard Karen’s breathless laughter join in, heard her murmur  _ “There’s _ my girl” as she tried to settle down. But the weightlessness she suddenly felt was too much to keep to herself.

She had to admit, it felt pretty amazing.

“Why didn’t you say anything until now?” she asked Will, her laughter still coloring her words. “We wouldn’t have had to make so much effort to sneak around all week.”

“I figured you would tell me when you were ready!” Will exclaimed. “I mean, it’s not like I was going to bite your head off or anything; I just want you to be happy. But you were angry the entire way here, and then you two sneaked off while we were still sleeping, and by the time I realized what this trip was supposed to be, it was too late. Which is why we’re leaving.”

Grace felt Karen perk up against her. “Whaddya talk?” the dark haired woman asked.

Will let a smile play across his face. “We’re going to call a car. The car is going to take us to the train station. The train is going to take us to Manhattan. And you two are going to have the vacation you planned in the first place.” He walked over to the bed to kiss Grace goodbye on the cheek, the redhead too stunned to react. “There’s breakfast on the dining table. Eat, love, be happy. We’ll see you at home.” He turned to leave, placing a hand on Jack’s shoulder to guide him out the door. “Come on, Jack.”

“Sorry we crashed your sex vacation,” Jack apologized with questionable sincerity as he was being led to the door.

“Hey, guys?” Grace called out, making them stop just short of their exit. She wasn’t quite sure what to say; the guys had been so unfazed by all of this that she almost felt foolish for thinking it was a big deal. But she knew she had to give them something, had to let them know that despite the tinge of embarrassment that came with the knowledge of being overheard in her most intimate moments, she was relieved and grateful that it was nowhere near the big deal it could have been. She had to let them know how wonderful it felt, knowing that everything was going to be okay. When they turned to face her, she knew she didn’t have the words that could say exactly what she wanted to say. But she hoped they could see the genuine appreciation in her eyes as she let the first thing that came to mind spill from her lips. “Thanks for this.”

“Yeah, well...don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Will smirked, nudging Jack out of the room with him.

“Do  _ all _ of the things Will wouldn’t do!” Jack shouted from the hallway. And after a few moments, Grace and Karen heard the front door close and realized they were finally, blissfully alone.

For real this time.

Just to be sure, Grace got up from the bed, wrapping the sheet around her body as she padded her way to the landing in the hallway, looking over as much of the ground floor as she could before discovering that the place was empty. She couldn’t control the grin playing across her lips as she rushed back into the bedroom, and it only grew wider when she found Karen out of bed and shrugging into her robe. “They’re really gone,” she said brightly.

Karen grabbed Grace’s robe from off the bedroom floor and handed it to her girlfriend. “Well, then we should get down there, honey,” she murmured, giving in to the redhead’s pull on the robe and moving in closer. “Before the bacon gets cold.” She brushed her lips against Grace’s, letting her hand slide to the small of her back and linger for a moment before heading downstairs.

When Grace made her way down to the dining table, she stopped in her tracks trying to take in the sight in front of her. A place setting for two. An extravagant spread that had to be the product of Will’s guilt over crashing their vacation. Sunlight filling the room, making everything glow. And Karen, waiting for her, her face lighting up and rivaling the sunlight as soon as their eyes met. It all seemed too perfect to be real. But she felt the hardwood under her feet, felt the way those sunbeams warmed the space they landed on. She felt the way Karen’s voice tickled her ear as the dark haired woman took stock of the gift they were given (“Wilma must be feeling guilty, he left the vodka out with the orange juice.”). And she knew this was true. This was real. This was hers.

She couldn’t believe this was hers.

If it was any other person that made her fall, she would have worried about what would happen next, now that the secret was gone. If it was any other person, she would wonder if the secret was what made it thrilling, if the secret was what held the magic. If it was any other person, now would be the time when the panic set in, her mind scrambling to figure out how to keep a good thing going. But she was sitting down at the table across from Karen. Karen, who didn’t need a secret to be thrilling. Karen, who obliterated any doubt. Karen, who carried all the magic in the world.

Karen, who made Grace excited to see what came next.

She didn’t think she could feel any safer than she did right now.

“So, honey,” the dark haired woman drew out before taking a sip of the screwdriver she made for herself, “what are we going to do with all this time on our hands?”

Grace smirked as she felt the heat of Karen’s gaze warm her skin. “Take me anywhere. Take me everywhere. I just want you to take me.”

The way Karen sighed and smiled filled Grace to the brim. “I think I can work with that.” Karen lifted a piece of bacon from her plate and motioned for the redhead to do the same. They each held their piece out in front of them, until they touched. They each let out a small laugh at the sight.

And they toasted to the true start of their vacation.


End file.
